Loyalist Volunteer Force

We all have preconceived ideas of what a Loyalist is, the media perception of Loyalism is viewed through emerald green tinted glasses. Many believe that all Loyalists are Bigots and their crimes are purely sectarian here is an insight into the thoughts of a True Loyalist, make your own mind up. Billy Wright

Billy Wright was a committed loyalist. He has been questioned about the execution of more than a dozen republicans over the past 10 years, he is known by sections of the pro-IRA media as 'King Rat'.

When Billy's parents separated he was sent, at six years of age, to a welfare home in Mountnorris, a small town in South Armagh. "I absolutely loved it there". We talk sitting in his flat which is protected by a steel gate, a strong oak door and bullet proof windows in all rooms." I went to primary school where Ms Flack was the teacher, I would describe her as a Protestant nationalist. I think she is a member of the Alliance Party. I learned all about Patrick Pearse, the Easter Rebellion. I could well understand the fierce resentment the Irish had against England. 'I loved Irish history and the songs that they sang in my days in South Armagh. On Sundays we would go to Whitecross to watch the Gaelic football games.I played Gaelic and football every second day with the boys from Mountnorris. It was tough and my friends were from both sides. In later days we would go to dances in Dundalk in the Free State. Billy was 15 when 10 Protestant workmen from Bessbrook were taken from a minibus in Whitecross and shot. "I realised that they were massacred because of what I was - a Protestant. I left Mountnorris, came back to Portadown and immediately joined the youth wing of the UVF. I felt it was my duty to defend my people".

Regrets? "I am me and I'll see it to the end. I am not leaving the battlefield." Sadly Billy Wright was murdered while in prison by the INLA, allegedly in collusion with the British Government on the 27th of December 1997 LVF

West Of Scotland Rat Pack