1 March 2001 Edition

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Loyalists linked to Orange Hall

Two brothers jailed for a gun incident linked to the Orange Volunteers loyalist death squad were members of the Orange Lodge at the centre of last week's revelation concerning a UDA celebration held in an Orange Hall.

The hall had been hired by a loyalist band that played a central role in the row which erupted during a UDA show of strength on the Shankill which sparked bloody feuding.

The Orange Hall which hosted Johnny Adair's UDA members was Burnside Hall in Antrim. The hall is used by the Boyd Memorial Loyal Orange Lodge and there is a bar on the premises.

Two members of the same Orange Lodge were jailed just before Christmas for loyalist related arms offences. Twin brother Mervyn and Paul Armstrong were among four men who received sentences totalling 16 years for offences linked to the Orange Volunteers.

The Orange Volunteers emerged shortly after the LVF announced a ceasefire and has been seen as a flag of convenience for the LVF. During a night of booze and revelry, members of Adair's Lower Shankill UDA gang were officially thanked for ``retrieving'' an LVF flag carried by the band which had sparked trouble in August between the UDA and UVF in Belfast.


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