At about the time his empire fell apart at the hands of his UDA rivals, Adair was safely tucked up in his prison bunk in Maghaberry prison on the outskirts of Belfast. By Friday, 20 other dissidents were in Scotland and the exile count is expected to go on rising.
The endgame for the Adair clan began last Saturday when a gunman, who was also a member of Adair’s C Company of the UDA, shot dead Adair’s rival, UDA
“brigadier” John “Grug” Gregg, on his return to Belfast from watching a Rangers match at Ibrox. Gregg was a mythical hero in loyalist circles because of his role in the attempted assassination of Gerry Adams.
Such is the anger at the murder that Adair’s enemies will not rest until he pays. One loyalist source said that the hunt was now on for the Adair dissidents in Scotland. “There are outstanding issues,” he said. “It wouldn’t matter if they went to the Mediterranean. John Gregg is lying in a coffin and that is a disgrace.”
A few weeks before Gregg was killed, he’d dispatched a hit team to murder Adair as he took his children to school in Belfast. At that stage Adair was still at large, although he was later sent back to prison under the terms of his Good Friday Agreement release by Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy as the loyalist feud began spiralling out of control. Adair unsurprisingly took the planned hit by Gregg’s men rather personally. The result was Gregg’s death. This was followed by the issuing of an order by the UDA inner council that all members of Adair’s C company should withdraw from the unit and join mainstream UDA companies if they wanted to stay alive. More than 100 members of Adair’s outfit switched allegiances.
The endgame for the Adair clan began last Saturday when a gunman, who was also a member of Adair’s C Company of the UDA, shot dead Adair’s rival, UDA
“brigadier” John “Grug” Gregg, on his return to Belfast from watching a Rangers match at Ibrox. Gregg was a mythical hero in loyalist circles because of his role in the attempted assassination of Gerry Adams.
Such is the anger at the murder that Adair’s enemies will not rest until he pays. One loyalist source said that the hunt was now on for the Adair dissidents in Scotland. “There are outstanding issues,” he said. “It wouldn’t matter if they went to the Mediterranean. John Gregg is lying in a coffin and that is a disgrace.”
A few weeks before Gregg was killed, he’d dispatched a hit team to murder Adair as he took his children to school in Belfast. At that stage Adair was still at large, although he was later sent back to prison under the terms of his Good Friday Agreement release by Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy as the loyalist feud began spiralling out of control. Adair unsurprisingly took the planned hit by Gregg’s men rather personally. The result was Gregg’s death. This was followed by the issuing of an order by the UDA inner council that all members of Adair’s C company should withdraw from the unit and join mainstream UDA companies if they wanted to stay alive. More than 100 members of Adair’s outfit switched allegiances.