The Ulster Defence Association must disarm, Minister Margaret Ritchie said, or they won't get a penny of funding for the disadvantaged areas that they control.
You can't make us, said UDA, now give us our money.
No, said Ms. Ritchie, a member of the nationalist SDLP.
After a great deal of bluster and puffery, the UDA announced that they were going to stand down, just as the IRA had done months ago. Put weapons beyond use, under the watchful eye of the same general who verified the IRA's disarmament. The UDA's south Belfast brigadier, Jackie McDonald, has also called on his colleagues to give up criminality. Organized crime and drugs are the lifeblood of his organization these days, and there aren't so many loyal members any more. The UDA is a Protestant Mafia, not an army bent on maintaining the Union. It was long since time to disband.
Lest anyone think that Ms. Ritchie's refusal to show the UDA the money had anything to do with the move to decommission, Mr. McDonald stated quite unequivocally that it didn't. Pure coincidence. The UDA is disarming because they feel like it. No pressure whatsoever.
The UDA made their grand announcement on Poppy Day, to drive home the point that they are loyal to the Crown and have loving memories of the First World War and fighting for the Empire that began its slow death in Flanders fields. They're going to give up their guns, the fight is over, and now the loyalist communities can focus on the war that they are very much involved in.
Those who originally organized to defend the Union of Ireland and Great Britain have a bigger battle on their hands. Today, their members are known for gangland murders, drug wars and all the misery that organized crime brings to an area. Show us the money, Ms. Ritchie, the loyalists shout, because the Shinners are getting all the attention and they're moving ahead of those who were supposed to always be on top.
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