THE cousin of a West Belfast man murdered by the UDA has called on the DUP to come clean on the party's relationship with Ulster Resistance.
Briege Wright was speaking at the launch of a new publication, 'Ulster Resistance and the Role of the DUP in its Formation'. The report sets out the historical record of the relationship between the party and the paramilitary group.
The report was launched in St Comgall's on Tuesday, the 40th anniversary of the Ulster Hall rally where leading DUP members wearing red berets were to the fore as Ulster Resistance was founded. Ulster Resistance is linked to at least 98 murders.
On November 10, 1986, the DUP launched Ulster Resistance at an invitation-only rally of some 3,000 men in the historic Bedford Street building. The rally was chaired by Sammy Wilson, wearing his official chain of office as Belfast Lord Mayor. It was addressed by party leader the Reverend Ian Paisley and Peter Robinson.
By their side was a man now known to have been a central figure in the importation and distribution of modern weaponry for loyalist paramilitaries – Noel Little, father of the current deputy First Minister, Emma Little-Pengelly, who was a child at the time her father was active.
In the weeks that followed, senior DUP figures appeared at further rallies, again wearing the group's distinctive red berets.
Paul 'Topper' Thompson (25) was murdered by the UFF in Springfield Park on April 25 1994. A VZ58 assault rifle used in his murder was part of a huge haul of weapons imported by Ulster Resistance in 1988 in association with the UVF and UDA.
The DUP claims it severed its links with Ulster Resistance in 1987, but the families of those murdered with weapons imported by the group say the party has never given a full public account of its role in founding Ulster Resistance. They're also demanding hitherto unprovided details of how and when those links ended.
Speaking at the event, Briege said: "This report sets out the deadly human consequences of decisions made by those in the DUP leadership who helped establish, sustain and give political support to Ulster Resistance.
"Weapons were used in attacks, including the attack on Paul.
"The DUP must answer questions about the importation and use of these weapons. For families like ours, it is simply not tenable that the DUP continues to distance itself from a paramilitary organisation it helped to form.
"We will not accept silence when serious questions remain.
"I am calling directly on the DUP to stop hiding behind silence and ensure the party answers questions that families have been asking for decades. The DUP cannot be distanced from Ulster Resistance as an organisation whose formation was actively promoted by its most senior figures.
Former DUP leader Peter Robinson wearing an Ulster Resistance red beret
"The DUP must demonstrate whether it is prepared to confront its past."
According to Briege, there are three key questions that require answers.
"Will the DUP acknowledge the role played by its senior figures in establishing, promoting and politically supporting Ulster Resistance?
"What does the DUP know about the organisation's arms procurement, the 1987/88 importation and subsequent distribution of those weapons to the UDA and UVF?
"Will the DUP provide families with a full and honest account of its senior figures' involvement and accept their entitlement to answers, acknowledgement and truth?
"The responsibility now rests with the DUP to ensure the party finally faces up to that history."
Ciarán MacAirt, spokesperson for the Time for Truth Campaign, said: "Forty years ago, senior DUP figures stood on the stage of the Ulster Hall and launched Ulster Resistance. Within weeks, Ulster Resistance was planning to import guns with the UVF and UDA. Those guns were then used to kill our loved ones.
“It is the stated view of the families that there must be an independent, thematic investigation into Ulster Resistance, its political sponsorship, the arms importation, the role of state agencies and the subsequent killings.
“The DUP can no longer withhold answers from families, refuse to account for the actions of its senior leadership and then distance itself from an organisation it helped establish, publicly promoted and provided with political cover.”
North Belfast MP John Finucane also spoke during the launch and said that the DUP have questions to answer.
“The DUP's subsequent attempts to distance itself from Ulster Resistance must be examined against the very public role its leading figures played in establishing and promoting the organisation," he said.
“There are also fundamental questions about what British state agencies knew, the handling of intelligence, the role of informants and the extent of collusion surrounding the importation and distribution of these weapons.
“Forty years on, families are still waiting for answers. They cannot be expected to simply move on while fundamental questions about the murders of their loved ones remain unresolved.
“This report is an important contribution to establishing the truth, and those responsible for wrongdoing, whether political figures, loyalist organisations or British state forces, must be subject to the same standards of scrutiny and accountability.
“The passage of time does not diminish the rights of families to truth and justice, nor does it remove the responsibility of those who have questions to answer.”
