Devenish Arms attack 1991

On 22 December 1991, the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), a loyalist paramilitary group, shot dead a Catholic civilian and badly wounded an eight-year-old boy and two men in the Devenish Arms pub in Belfast, Northern Ireland.[1]

1991 Devenish Arms attack
Part of the Troubles
LocationDevenish Arms, Finaghy Road North, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Coordinates54°35′07.8″N 5°55′22.7″W
Date22 December 1991
1:00 PM (GMT)
Attack type
Mass shooting
Deaths1 civilian
Injured4 civilians
PerpetratorUlster Defence Association

Background

During the early 1990s Northern Ireland experienced an intensification of loyalist paramilitary violence of a level unseen since the 1970s.[1] In the latter half of 1991, as loyalist sectarian assassinations continued, the Irish People's Liberation Organization (IPLO) carried out several retaliatory attacks on loyalist pubs, firing indiscriminately at patrons. The night before the Devenish Arms attack, the IPLO killed two Protestant civilians in the Donegall Arms shooting.

Attack

According to the Irish writer Henry McDonald, there were at least two gunmen from Johnny Adair's "C" Company at the Devenish Arms. They forcibly entered the pub and started shooting at patrons, who at first believed it was a prank involving fireworks and didn't attempt to get to cover. Aidan Wallace (22,) a Catholic civilian, was hit by two rounds in the back at close-range. Some sources claim that one of the gunmen, Stephen McKeag, walked calmly around the pub, pointing his 9 mm pistol at different people, deciding on a target. He finally stopped at an eight-year-old boy, shooting him in the head. One of the attackers shouted "out, out, out" and the UDA/UFF gunmen fled the scene, firing more shots in the air as they left.

The casualties could have been higher, but the UFF gunmen were using defective Chinese ammunition from a Lebanese arms shipment imported in the late 1980s. Loyalist weapons jamming during attacks was not uncommon during this period.[2]

See also

References
  1. "Protestant Gunman Kills Man in Belfast Pub, 5th Slain in Weekend". The New York Times. Associated Press. 23 December 1991. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  2. Henry McDonald and Jim Cusack - UDA: Inside The Heart Of Loyalist Terror(Penguin Ireland) pp.209
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