THE leadership of the South East Antrim UDA is reported to be in talks with mediators about ending paramilitarism.
BBC Spotlight has quoted a source claiming the talks are “highly sensitive” and that mediators had been brought in as a show of good faith.
Last month, suspected Class A drugs were seized as part of an ongoing investigation into criminality linked to the group.
Martin Quinn, who believes his brother Glenn was murdered by the South East Antrim UDA in 2020, welcomed any talks but said those responsible should not evade justice.
He also said the group should prove it is genuine by allowing witnesses to his brother’s murder to come forward.
“Every honest, decent person that lives in the area that South East Antrim covers would obviously love to see an end to organised crime and we would welcome it,” he told the programme.
“But they (South East Antrim UDA) are not going to be allowed to walk away from everything they’ve done.
“The entire community is revulsed about it, so if they want to prove to the community, they want to prove to the government, then give these people up.”
It follows developments in November where the UVF was said to have stood down members of their east Belfast faction over their continued involvement in organised crime.
Stephen Matthews, who denies having been the leader of the East Belfast UVF, is among those said to have been expelled.
A senior UVF member told Spotlight that Mr Matthews had ultimately failed to prevent gangsterism in east Belfast.
“At one stage, the East Belfast battalion was the strongest, most capable and best armed,” he said.
“People who came after brought that group into disrepute.
“I don’t believe Stephen Matthews was guilty of bringing the organisation into disrepute and I don’t think he was a drug dealer, but the problem was that it happened on his watch and the buck has to stop somewhere.”
A statement issued through a spokesperson said that Mr Matthews had never been the leader of the East Belfast UVF, and so could not have been removed from his role.
Professor Marie Breen-Smyth has been speaking to loyalist paramilitaries about transition, and welcomed the apparent attempt to move away from organised crime in east Belfast.
“There is a way of interpreting that, which is that the UVF are making themselves transition ready,” she said.
“I think that the problems with the east Belfast brigade are well established and I think the UVF leadership were affected by that.”
The Independent Reporting Commission, which monitors progress towards the end of paramilitarism, has suggested interlocutors between paramilitaries and government.
Professor Breen-Smyth told Spotlight: “There are people from the old guard in the paramilitaries who want to put clear blue water between themselves and organised crime”.
“Those are the people I think we ought to be facilitating to leave the field with some kind of dignity and with secure and safe arrangements”, she said.
“That means then that organised crime is isolated and we can point the full force of the law at it.”
Justice Minister Naomi Long has said she remains cautious about the use of mediators.
“I’m not opposed to the idea of an interlocutor but I do think there is a risk and I think this risk is under assessed, and that is by providing for example, an interlocutor or some particular pathway for these organisations, that we give them a credibility and a standing that they do not deserve.”
