Winston Irvine conviction exposes peace process pretence
16 December 2024
Winston Irvine hosting a public event
earlier this year, while on bail.
“Suspension of disbelief” is a concept closely associated with the world of drama, whether that is theatre, film, television or books. It describes the unspoken agreement that exists between creators, performers, and audiences to avoid critical thinking and, for the sake of emotional involvement and enjoyment, accept the false reality presented in works of fiction. Such a concept also operates in the world of politics. The Irish peace process is a prime example of this. We are asked to suspend disbelief and accept that Britain is a neutral party in Ireland; that equality has been achieved within the northern state; and that we are proceeding inevitably towards a united Ireland. We are also asked to accept that loyalist paramilitaries are in the process of transition that will bring about their disbandment. This proposition is particularly difficult to maintain given that the transition period has now been going on for over twenty years and loyalists are still orchestrating violence and intimidation and are still engaged in all manner of criminality.
The reality of this has been exposed by the recent conviction of high-profile loyalist Winston “Winkie” Irvine in relation to the possession of weapons and ammunition. Arrested and charged in June 2022 he had been contesting the charges until November of this year. He is expected to be sentenced in early 2025. What was revealed over the course of the trial is the degree to which loyalist paramilitarism is embedded within the structures of the political settlement. That Irvine was a UVF commander in north Belfast was no barrier to him being employed by organisations that administered hundreds of thousands of pounds of public funds. Over the past decade these organisations have received £500,000 from Belfast City Council and £900,000 from the International Fund for Ireland (IFI).
Irvine held a number of positions within the community sector. Among them was his £35,000-per-year job as a senior project manager with north Belfast-based interface organisation Intercomm Ireland. Set up in 2004, it is involved in cross-community projects in interface areas of north Belfast, including Ardoyne, Twaddell and Woodvale. When his contract with Intercomm was terminated in the wake of his arrest Irvine was immediately rehired by another IFI funded group - ACT - and continued on with his public ‘peacebuilding’ role. Around the time of his arrest Irvine was due to start work on a £258,000 project to help ex-paramilitaries re-engage with civil society. Its funding came from the Communities in Transition (CIT) programme managed by The Executive Office at Stormont.
During the period when he was on bail Irvnie hosted a number of public forums under the umbrella of Building Cultural Networks, yet another IFI funded group where he was employed. In May 2024, Irvine was seen shaking hands with the First and Deputy First Ministers at a Building Cultural Networks event at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The UVF leader addressed the conference, standing in front of a screen bearing the message Rights, Roles and Responsibilities. A video taken at the event and posted online shows Irvine thanking dignitaries in the audience, including politicians, clergy and civil servants, along with members of the PSNI. He says: “I think we have tapped into something really significant, something of its time, when you consider the categories of people in this room from young people, to politicians, police, our government.” Among those in attendance at the event promoting loyalist band culture and participation in the arts was Orange Order Grand Secretary Rev Mervyn Gibson and DUP MP Carla Lockhart.
By an absurd coincidence, on the day of his first court appearance, Irvine was due to attend a graduation ceremony at Maynooth University where he'd completed a masters degree in “international peacebuilding” partly funded by the Irish government.
Irvine’s prominent role in the community sector and close association with public officials were central to his denial of the charges he faced. He initially gave a no-comment interview when arrested but later told investigating officers the weapons were “nothing to do with him”. In a prepared statement, he said: “I have developed a reputation as a trusted interlocutor engaging with the community on key outstanding issues in relation to the Northern Ireland peace and political process.” During hearings it was claimed that Irvine had actually been acting as a “decommissioning interlocutor” and did not have the weapons for any “nefarious purpose”. Irvine’s barrister described him in court as a “high-profile individual” with contacts which include members of the British and Irish governments. His membership of a local Policing Partnership Board; his close relations with senior police officers; and his involvement in high level talks on the issue of legacy, were all cited as evidence of his bona fides. At one point PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Bobby Singleton was called as a witness by the defence. The court heard the two men had known each other for ten years, stretching back to Singleton’s role as an area commander dealing with parading disputes in north Belfast. Singleton confirmed that Irvine had his mobile number and that they had engaged on a range of issues related to “peace and reconciliation”.
Ultimately this defence failed. The reason was hinted at in the court proceedings when a police witness revealed that the weapons charges against Irvine stemmed from an investigation into “an unrelated matter”. The “unrelated matter” is believed to have been a hoax bomb alert at an event in Belfast attended by then Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney in March 2022. It appears that the north Belfast UVF crossed a red line by biting the hands that feed it. However, if this was the red line it suggests the space allowed for loyalist activity is fairly wide.
The critical point about the Irvine case is that a wide range of politicians and officials were fully aware who he was and what he was doing. It was not the case that he was leading some sort of secret double life. His prominent role in the UVF was well documented. He featured regularly in the newspapers and was the subject of an episode of BBC NI’s investigative documentary series Spotlight that was broadcast in 2013. Despite this publicity Irvine’s career as a “community representative” continued on. The clear implication here is that Irvine, and others like him, are being promoted and patronised because of their links with loyalist paramilitarism rather than in spite of them.
The muted political response to the outcome of the case reveals the complicity of both the Sinn Fein and the DUP in this system of patronage. The carve up of resources, which sees funding directed at community organisations that enjoy the favour of these parties, operates at every level of government. Such schemes have been branded as “paramilitary slush funds”. The largest of these is the Social Investment Fund (SIF). Set up in 2011 by the Stormont executive it was tasked to deliver projects totalling £80m. However, it ran into controversy in 2016 after the head of an east Belfast group that received almost £2m from the fund was recorded making thinly disguised threats. The group was Charter NI - its then chief executive was Dee Stitt, a leading Ulster Defence Association (UDA) member. It later emerged that Charter NI had a role on the east Belfast steering group, which it received £1.7m of public money through. It was also revealed that the DUP MLA Robin Newton had links to the group that he failed to declare. While Stitt eventually resigned from his post with Charter NI his employment in the community sector has continued to present. He features regularly in the media in relation to allegations of intimidation in the North Down area. He has recently appeared in court on charges of publishing social media posts that incite racial hatred. At the time of his appointment as chief executive Charter NI Stitt was provided with a number of references including one from Unite the Union.
The system of sectarian patronage also operates at a council level. This is most advanced in Belfast where Sinn Fein and the DUP meet in a closed committee to allocate funds. The prime example of how this operates is the so-called bonfire diversionary fund which is split between Feile an Phobail and various loyalist community groups. Last December, they were criticised by other parties and the Audit Office over the allocation of development funds when the funding to some projects was cut off or greatly reduced and then redistributed to groups that enjoyed the favour of Sinn Fein and the DUP. The removal of funding from a special needs children’s charity was viewed as particularly egregious. After a month of negative media coverage, a fraction of the charity’s funding was restored. The Irish government also plays a role through the International Fund for Ireland (IFI). As mentioned earlier it funded a number of the organisations that employed Winston Irvine. It also funds the Maynooth masters course. When questioned about this the IFI issued a defensive statement pointing out that it never employed Irvine directly and that it “funds projects, not individuals”. There is no indication that funding of parliamentary linked groups will be halted or even reviewed. The only time such a move was attempted was in 2007 when Margaret Ritchie, the then SDLP leader and social development minister, tried withholding £1.3 million from the UDA after it was accused of orchestrating serious rioting. Her efforts were thwarted by Sinn Fein and the DUP.
All of this points to a broader strategy by the British and Irish governments and the Stormont Executive to sponsor loyalists and legitimise them within working class Protestant communities. This is incredibly dangerous but it is also entirely in keeping with a political settlement that is based on the acceptance of sectarianism as the natural regulator of society in the north. We know that sectarianism will not just wither away without a struggle but state support for loyalism is preserving something that, if left to its own resources, would be much weaker. Loyalists, taking their cue from the leadership of Unionism, continue to be the main instigators of street level sectarian violence and intimidation. In recent years this has extended into racism with loyalists being the main element in the racist rampage that erupted in Belfast back in August. Of course, the most immediate task of loyalism, as it has been throughout its history, is to counter any dissent, in the form of trade unionism and socialism, that may emerge amongst Protestant workers. This was the case with the workplace expulsions of the 1920’s and it is still the case 100 years later.
In the opening to this article the political culture of the north was likened to the suspension of disbelief that exists in the world of drama. Yet they differ in one fundamental way. For in drama the suspension of critical faculties is temporary. It ends when the curtain falls or the television is switched off. When it comes to the political settlement the suspension is permanent. Its very survival depends on a continuous pretence.