0:00:05 > 0:00:07It's decision time for the paramilitaries.
0:00:07 > 0:00:11Stormont has agreed another pot of money to encourage them away
0:00:11 > 0:00:14from violence and crime.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17But this time it says if Republicans and Loyalists don't leave the stage,
0:00:17 > 0:00:21a major crackdown is coming.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24Have previous government and police efforts to keep the men of violence
0:00:24 > 0:00:26in the peace process, turned the paramilitaries into mafia
0:00:26 > 0:00:29gangs that are too tough to crack?
0:00:29 > 0:00:33Tonight, we focus on the activities of the UDA and how police
0:00:33 > 0:00:38and government attempts to engage with its community representatives
0:00:38 > 0:00:39have appeared to legitimise the organization and
0:00:39 > 0:00:45undermine the rule of law.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48And we ask is Stormont capable of putting the paramilitaries out
0:00:48 > 0:00:52of business, once and for all?
0:01:18 > 0:01:20It's Monday afternoon on the peace line between the Shankill
0:01:20 > 0:01:24and the Falls.
0:01:24 > 0:01:29A steady stream of tourists comes to survey the wall of concrete
0:01:29 > 0:01:31and steel that divides the two communities.
0:01:31 > 0:01:32It's territory that Shankill community worker
0:01:32 > 0:01:38and Pastor Jack McKee knows well.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40Well, I have led here virtually all my life.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42I am 64 years of age now.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44My mother was from the Shankill.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48Jack remembers the wall going up.
0:01:48 > 0:01:53We knew that it was cutting off the other side from the Shankill
0:01:53 > 0:01:58Road and it was removing some of the fear yes it was welcomed.
0:01:58 > 0:02:06Nobody thought that it was going to be up for this long.
0:02:06 > 0:02:11His work here is all about breaking down barriers.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14There's a church, sports hall and a coffee shop attracting people
0:02:14 > 0:02:20living on both sides of the wall.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22The building was ideal because it literally straddles the Shankill
0:02:22 > 0:02:24and Falls Road and it straddles both communities,
0:02:24 > 0:02:27and for that reason both communities are coming into this
0:02:27 > 0:02:29centre every single day.
0:02:29 > 0:02:34But there is a problem.
0:02:34 > 0:02:44So you are going to take me down to what is the peace line
0:02:50 > 0:02:52and show me the gates?
0:02:52 > 0:02:54The gates have been here since 1969.
0:02:54 > 0:02:56For nearly four years, Jack has been campaigning
0:02:56 > 0:02:58to get the peace gate here at Northumberland Street
0:02:58 > 0:03:00to stay open in the evening.
0:03:00 > 0:03:01It closes at 6:30pm.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04Anyone wanting to come into our building from 6:30pm
0:03:04 > 0:03:07at night need to, if they are coming from the Falls Road they need
0:03:07 > 0:03:11to travel through the Shankill community.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14And, er, I am not suggesting that they are at risk, but that
0:03:14 > 0:03:17certainly places them at more risk than having to just
0:03:17 > 0:03:18come through...
0:03:18 > 0:03:20To come through these gates.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22We understand that a recent Housing Executive survey found that
0:03:22 > 0:03:25a majority of people in the area had no problem with the gates
0:03:25 > 0:03:26being opened later.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29Stormont wants to remove all the interface barriers and walls
0:03:29 > 0:03:34in the city by 2022.
0:03:34 > 0:03:36It's seen as pivotal to a shared future.
0:03:36 > 0:03:46So why won't it open the gates later?
0:03:48 > 0:03:53We've been told the answer is that loyalist paramilitaries
0:03:53 > 0:03:58from the Shankill want the gates closed in the evening.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00That as so-called defenders of the community, they want these
0:04:00 > 0:04:05barriers kept in place.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08Back in 2013, former Justice Minister David Ford met
0:04:08 > 0:04:13Jack McKee and supported the idea of the gates opening later.
0:04:13 > 0:04:15He now confirms paramilitary representatives were pushing back
0:04:15 > 0:04:21against the plan.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24There were on the Shankill side of the line, those
0:04:24 > 0:04:27who were literally regarding themselves as gatekeepers,
0:04:27 > 0:04:29who sought to use influence to not have the gates
0:04:29 > 0:04:33opened too much.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37And to be clear, the people on the Shankill side,
0:04:37 > 0:04:40that were lobbying the department not to open the gates longer,
0:04:40 > 0:04:42would it be fair to say they were representatives
0:04:42 > 0:04:43of the UDA and UVF?
0:04:43 > 0:04:46I couldn't attribute any individual to any specific organisation,
0:04:46 > 0:04:48but that's certainly my belief, that there were links between, er,
0:04:48 > 0:04:53some of those people, and the two organisations.
0:04:53 > 0:04:59This comes as little surprise to Jack McKee.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02A senior police officer did say to me in front of two members
0:05:02 > 0:05:06from department of justice that I was part of the problem
0:05:06 > 0:05:12as I wouldn't go and talk to paramilitaries within the Shankill
0:05:12 > 0:05:14Road about the opening of these gates.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16I was affronted by that.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18I've been attacked by paramilitaries had my home attacked by them,
0:05:18 > 0:05:20been sentenced to death by them.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22I buried young men in our church and other places murdered
0:05:22 > 0:05:24by paramilitaries in our own community.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27Why would I want to talk to them about opening gates?
0:05:27 > 0:05:29I want to talk to department of justice about these
0:05:29 > 0:05:32gates being open.
0:05:32 > 0:05:37Many people believe the way in which government and the PSNI
0:05:37 > 0:05:39consult paramilitary representatives, grants these groups
0:05:39 > 0:05:45an unofficial role in running and policing communities.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49The PSNI does not deny a relationship with certain
0:05:49 > 0:05:53paramilitaries and that relationship is now under scrutiny.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56Jack McKee says a police chief inspector told him you need to go
0:05:56 > 0:05:57and talk to the paramilitary.
0:05:57 > 0:06:02Well, I don't know about the details of the gate opening
0:06:02 > 0:06:08and who influences what over that.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11What I'm saying is, that we will not do anything to legitimise
0:06:11 > 0:06:12paramilitary leaders as paramilitary leaders.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14Now there is a grey area.
0:06:14 > 0:06:16And for some reason, there's this schizophrenia where they're
0:06:16 > 0:06:19a community representative by day and then they take a paramilitary
0:06:19 > 0:06:20badge or label by night.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22I'm not condoning that, I'm not an advocate for it,
0:06:22 > 0:06:24I think the paramilitary should go away, frankly.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27I don't want to do anything to legitimise paramilitary groups
0:06:27 > 0:06:29but there also needs to be a pragmatism around how
0:06:29 > 0:06:33and when police engage with community representatives
0:06:33 > 0:06:35who may still have some sort of paramilitary trappings associated
0:06:35 > 0:06:38to them or are believed to be so.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40But let me be clear.
0:06:40 > 0:06:50We will never be so close to these people that we can't do our job.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57It is 22 years ago this month that Loyalist paramilitaries
0:06:57 > 0:07:02announced their ceasefire.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04The combined Loyalist military command will universally cease
0:07:04 > 0:07:06all operational hostilities as from midnight on Thursday,
0:07:06 > 0:07:1613th October 1994.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23It was here at Fernhill House, at the top of the Shankill,
0:07:23 > 0:07:28where that statement was made.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31It was a ray of hope that the terrorists were on a path
0:07:31 > 0:07:37to peace and disbandment.
0:07:37 > 0:07:44But it's an event that's faded into history and in the intervening
0:07:44 > 0:07:47years, there have been many more false dawns.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49As politicians, churchmen and even presidents have tried to convince
0:07:49 > 0:07:55the UVF and UDA to leave the stage.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58Last year, Stormont's Fresh Start Agreement acknowledged the extent
0:07:58 > 0:08:01to which paramilitaries, on both sides of the divide,
0:08:01 > 0:08:04remain woven into communities.
0:08:04 > 0:08:09And the political deal pledged a new effort to disband the groups.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15A paramilitary disbandment panel was set-up to investigate
0:08:15 > 0:08:19the problem and delivered a report in June this year.
0:08:19 > 0:08:21It made for stark reading about the extent to
0:08:21 > 0:08:30which paramilitaries control certain areas.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33They are a threat to democracy and rule of law more than an actual
0:08:33 > 0:08:39threat to the peace process.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42On the Loyalist side, it was extremely worrying individual
0:08:42 > 0:08:47gangsters and the structures of criminal gangs,
0:08:47 > 0:08:53and the recruitment of young people not necessarily for the war,
0:08:53 > 0:09:03but to do anti-democratic jobs, pushing drugs, selling drugs,
0:09:03 > 0:09:09and that's controlling those young people and in a coercive fashion.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11Once in, they couldn't get out.
0:09:11 > 0:09:12That has to stop.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15It reminded me of what I saw on the south side of
0:09:15 > 0:09:16Chicago, with gangsters...
0:09:16 > 0:09:17In 2016, come on.
0:09:17 > 0:09:23This is the Lower Shankill, in 2016.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25Nowhere has the paramilitary scourge been more overt over
0:09:25 > 0:09:30the years than here.
0:09:30 > 0:09:3620 years ago, this was home to Johnny Adair and his notorious
0:09:36 > 0:09:42UDA unit, C Company.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45Adair was ousted in a UDA coup, in 2003, but the paramilitary grip
0:09:45 > 0:09:55on this area didn't end there.
0:09:57 > 0:10:06It's early Saturday morning and this is the Shankill Estate.
0:10:06 > 0:10:13One of the first things you're welcomed by is a UFF/UDA mural.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16So there is a mix of murals, UFF graffiti,
0:10:16 > 0:10:21and UDA flags on houses.
0:10:21 > 0:10:31More UDA plaques, there's definitely a stamp of authority on the estate.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36There no doubt that the presence of the UDA and UFF is still here.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40Fear of the UDA stalks this community.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44Over recent weeks, we've had to meet secretly with people from here
0:10:44 > 0:10:48because they were frightened of being seen talking to us.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52They spoke of punishment beatings, attacks on homes, and exiling
0:10:52 > 0:10:56of people, still happening on a regular basis.
0:10:56 > 0:11:01The victims are those who defy the UDA.
0:11:01 > 0:11:07And most often young people.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10One person who crossed the local UDA was 23-year-old Neil Orr
0:11:10 > 0:11:13from the Shankill estate.
0:11:13 > 0:11:14He was a kind soul.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17He was bubbly, he was funny.
0:11:17 > 0:11:21He was witty.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23He would have given you his last.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27Just always there for everybody.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29Neil was addicted to his prescription medication and began
0:11:29 > 0:11:35buying and selling extra tablets to feed this habit.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38His cousin Tracey Coulter says this brought him to the attention
0:11:38 > 0:11:46of C Company in July 2013.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49She says the UDA demanded he join the organisation and sell
0:11:49 > 0:11:50drugs for them.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54But he said no.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59The torturing started.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02You know, getting cars to drive past his house, or if he was
0:12:02 > 0:12:04walking up the estate, cars was following behind him,
0:12:04 > 0:12:06making him more paranoid than what he already
0:12:06 > 0:12:16would have been.
0:12:18 > 0:12:19Because he
0:12:19 > 0:12:21did suffer from mental health issues as well?
0:12:21 > 0:12:23The threats included these texts messages, which Tracey says
0:12:23 > 0:12:25were from a senior UDA man on the Shankill,
0:12:25 > 0:12:26sent to Neil's phone.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28Under stress, Neil began taking more tablets.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31He overdosed and died.
0:12:31 > 0:12:36Our Neil left behind two kids and a pregnant girlfriend.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39He didn't even get to see his other wee son being born.
0:12:39 > 0:12:45He is missed.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47It's hard when you know he's not...
0:12:47 > 0:12:48You're not going to see him again.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51Tracey blames the UDA for Neil's death.
0:12:51 > 0:12:56And the pressure put on him is not unique.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58If you cross the UDA on the Shankill,
0:12:58 > 0:13:01you pay the penalty.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03Last year, C Company members nailed one young man's hands
0:13:03 > 0:13:08to a kitchen worktop.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11We also know of parents, frightened their children
0:13:11 > 0:13:13will face similar fates, having to take out loans
0:13:13 > 0:13:14for hundreds of pounds
0:13:14 > 0:13:21to pay-off debts their children owe the UDA for drugs.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24So who are the people that run the Lower Shankill UDA or C Company
0:13:24 > 0:13:26as it is known?
0:13:26 > 0:13:31We met with a loyalist from the area.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33He agreed to be interviewed if we protected his identity
0:13:33 > 0:13:35as he fears for his safety.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38What he says echoes what others have told us.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42His words are spoken by an actor.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45Nothing goes on without UDA's knowledge.
0:13:45 > 0:13:47And if anybody does anything wrong, it'll be brought
0:13:47 > 0:13:49to their attention by somebody.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52Most of them are thugs, that are into extortion, drug dealing.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54Anything to do with money, they're involved in it.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56Whether it's cigarettes, whether it's drink,
0:13:56 > 0:14:02whether it's clothes, they're involved into that.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05Spotlight has spoken to well-placed sources who have told us that
0:14:05 > 0:14:10C Company is making between ?20,000 and ?40,000 a week profit
0:14:10 > 0:14:15from the sale of drugs alone, mainly cocaine, cannabis
0:14:15 > 0:14:18and prescription pills.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29Three key men run C Company.
0:14:32 > 0:14:34Meet Mo Courtney.
0:14:34 > 0:14:39Now in his mid 50s, he was jailed in 1991 for robbery and hijacking,
0:14:39 > 0:14:43and became a leading UDA figure in the Maze prison.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45This is him pictured during tensions at that
0:14:45 > 0:14:49time of a loyalist feud.
0:14:49 > 0:14:51He was later jailed for the manslaughter of Shankill
0:14:51 > 0:14:57man Alan McCullough, who was killed by the UDA in 2003.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02Mo Courtney's always had rank within C Company.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06He used to be there with Johnny Adair, from that squad.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08Mo Courtney is the man who pulls the strings.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10Everything goes through Mo.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14And this man is Dee Coleman, the 30-year-old so-called
0:15:14 > 0:15:19Provost Marshal of C Company.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22He joined the UDA as a boy, his first conviction was related
0:15:22 > 0:15:27to the feud in 2000, when he was aged 14.
0:15:27 > 0:15:32Our source says Coleman was a protege of Johnny Adair.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35He started stealing cars for them.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38He just got involved in local thuggery, riots, things like that.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41Anything where money was involved, Dee Coleman was there
0:15:41 > 0:15:45involved with it.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49Aged just 21, in 2007 Coleman was jailed for extorting money
0:15:49 > 0:15:53on behalf of the UDA.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56In recent years, he has been fined for possession of an imitation
0:15:56 > 0:16:01weapon and drugs offences.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03And, finally, this is Denis Cunningham.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07Spotlight has met him before.
0:16:07 > 0:16:09You may not recognise him with his mask off.
0:16:09 > 0:16:16Because this is Cunningham filmed in 2002, reading a UDA statement.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19The Ulster freedom fighters wish to make clear that they don't
0:16:19 > 0:16:22use any other name as a flag of convenience.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24Cunningham was later jailed for fronting this
0:16:24 > 0:16:28paramilitary press conference.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32Our sources say he is the overall commander of C Company.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35But he doesn't get his hands dirty by being involved in the drug
0:16:35 > 0:16:37dealing and criminal activity.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40He hasn't got a reputation.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43It's just the men he knows, that he's been round.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45He can speak words, he's an educated person.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47So therefore he knows what to say.
0:16:47 > 0:16:51And how to say it.
0:16:51 > 0:16:52These are the paramilitary godfathers who control
0:16:52 > 0:16:58the Lower Shankill.
0:16:58 > 0:17:03On a day-to-day basis senior members of the UDA are often based
0:17:03 > 0:17:05in the Lower Shankill Community Association, here
0:17:05 > 0:17:09on the Shankill Road.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13There are volunteers and staff here not involved in the UDA.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15It runs education, training and youth outreach programmes
0:17:15 > 0:17:21and works with the Housing Executive and police on issue
0:17:21 > 0:17:24of community concern.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28But while it is engaged in this work, locals we have talked to view
0:17:28 > 0:17:31this building in another way.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33The Lower Shankill Community Association - do you know
0:17:33 > 0:17:35what they are used for?
0:17:35 > 0:17:37UDA headquarters.
0:17:37 > 0:17:38C Company headquarters.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40That's where it all happens from.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42And why do you say that?
0:17:42 > 0:17:44You've a problem with the UDA, you go to the offices.
0:17:44 > 0:17:45You speak to Denis Cunningham.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48Or Dee Coleman.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00After her cousin Neil died of a drugs overdose,
0:18:00 > 0:18:03Tracey Coulter came here to raise her concerns
0:18:03 > 0:18:06about his death.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13She says she arranged to meet this man at the office.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17He's Matt Kincaid.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19Matt Kincaid's a brigadier of west Belfast.
0:18:19 > 0:18:23So, I went round to speak to him, to, um, let him know
0:18:23 > 0:18:28just how badly overrun that the lower Shankill had got,
0:18:28 > 0:18:31because of all the drug dealing in it.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33I just want to be clear on one point.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35You'd arranged to meet Matt Kincaid, the west Belfast
0:18:35 > 0:18:39brigadier of the UDA.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42Why?
0:18:42 > 0:18:44And why at the Lower Shankill Community Association offices?
0:18:44 > 0:18:46Because that's where the UDA run, that's basically
0:18:46 > 0:18:49like the UDA headquarters, the Lower Shankill
0:18:49 > 0:18:51Community Association.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55That's where you go to talk to the brigadier.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59When she arrived for the meeting there was no sign of Kincaid.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03But there were other people in the office.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05Whenever I got there...
0:19:05 > 0:19:08Um, and the minute I walked in, Dee Coleman was there
0:19:08 > 0:19:12and Mo Courtney was there, and Denis Cunningham was there.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14Obviously there was going to be some kind of confrontation because this
0:19:14 > 0:19:17had all been brewing.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20A heated argument broke out between her and Coleman and then
0:19:20 > 0:19:24Mo Courtney got involved.
0:19:24 > 0:19:30He jumped up and says, "Get out to lock."
0:19:30 > 0:19:34and I told him to go and lock himself and mind his own business.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37And then he jumped off the chair and head butted me, and grabbed me
0:19:37 > 0:19:44by the throat and then assaulted me.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48Tracey called the police to the offices and made
0:19:48 > 0:19:50a complaint against Courtney.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54She claims that in the four months between the assault and the case
0:19:54 > 0:20:00coming to court, she then suffered a UDA campaign of intimidation.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07And from the July, and the court case wasn't till the December,
0:20:07 > 0:20:11from then till the December, my name was spread
0:20:11 > 0:20:16all round the walls, Tracey Coulter, PSNI informer.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18Um...
0:20:18 > 0:20:24They would gather all round my house, walking past it.
0:20:24 > 0:20:26And I lived with CCTV, etc., so the police
0:20:26 > 0:20:27were being called constantly.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29Um...
0:20:29 > 0:20:32They threw paint round my windows, with my kids present.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35Um, they threw paint in the streets, when I was walking down
0:20:35 > 0:20:37with another girl.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40It just never stopped.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44Despite this, Tracey gave evidence against Courtney,
0:20:44 > 0:20:47and he was convicted of assault.
0:20:47 > 0:20:52The case was not treated as paramilitary related.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55But Tracey says that in court she made clear her belief that
0:20:55 > 0:20:58Courtney is a UDA member.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01She also says Courtney's solicitor described his client
0:21:01 > 0:21:06was a community worker.
0:21:08 > 0:21:09We wanted to know more about the Association
0:21:09 > 0:21:12and what it does.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16Its mission statement says it: "plays a pivotal role
0:21:16 > 0:21:18"in the physical, social and economic regeneration
0:21:18 > 0:21:22"of the Shankill area".
0:21:22 > 0:21:25In particular, it has had a lot of publicity,
0:21:25 > 0:21:28and a lot of money for replacing some of the UDA murals in the area
0:21:28 > 0:21:33with new community friendly art.
0:21:33 > 0:21:35But as we have seen, many UDA murals remain
0:21:35 > 0:21:42to advertise the UDA's control.
0:21:42 > 0:21:48Despite the community group's links to the UDA,
0:21:48 > 0:21:50we've discovered public funding of the organisation has been
0:21:50 > 0:21:54significantly increasing.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57To date, the group has not published its accounts.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00But through Freedom of Information requests we have calculated that it
0:22:00 > 0:22:10has been granted around ?650,000 of government money,
0:22:10 > 0:22:11over the last five years.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14Some of the funding is used to employ several staff,
0:22:14 > 0:22:17including the area UDA commander Denis Cunningham
0:22:17 > 0:22:21as a community worker.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24And this man, Ian McLaughlin, the Association's project manager
0:22:24 > 0:22:29and a member of the local Ulster Political Research Group
0:22:29 > 0:22:33the political advisors to the UDA.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36We asked Lower Shankill Community Association, Mo Courtney,
0:22:36 > 0:22:41Dee Coleman, Denis Cunningham, Matt Kincaid and Ian McLaughlin
0:22:41 > 0:22:46if they wished to respond to the points in this programme.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50None of them replied to our letters.
0:22:50 > 0:22:52Tracey Coulter and her children were eventually forced
0:22:52 > 0:22:55to leave the Shankill.
0:22:55 > 0:23:00Their home was set on fire in December 2013, within 72 hours
0:23:00 > 0:23:04of the court verdict against Mo Courtney.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08The DUP and police quickly condemned the attack.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12But Tracey says the police wouldn't name the UDA as responsible,
0:23:12 > 0:23:17because they said they didn't have the evidence to do so.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21And she also says political support for her quickly disappeared.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24Days after the fire at her home, she met then DUP Social Development
0:23:24 > 0:23:31Minister Nelson McCausland.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34Basically what I wanted from Nelson McCausland
0:23:34 > 0:23:36was I wanted to ask, I wanted his word, were,
0:23:36 > 0:23:38were they, um, involved in funding the Lower Shankill
0:23:38 > 0:23:42Community Association.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45And basically sharing with him, that I don't think that
0:23:45 > 0:23:51offices should be funded.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54Tracey was effectively asking the Minister for Transparency
0:23:54 > 0:23:59about how public money was being spent on the Association.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03She says she asked Mr McCausland about the funding of the Association
0:24:03 > 0:24:06and he said he would investigate and get back to her.
0:24:06 > 0:24:10Three years later she's still waiting.
0:24:10 > 0:24:15Mr McCausland is familiar with the community association.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19Here he is on a visit to the Shankill in 2011,
0:24:19 > 0:24:23pictured with Denis Cunningham, who was there in his role
0:24:23 > 0:24:28as a community rep, as opposed to his role as a UDA commander.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31On that occasion Mr McCausland was getting the Association's
0:24:31 > 0:24:36input into future housing plans for the area.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40In a statement, Mr McCausland said that during his meeting
0:24:40 > 0:24:43with Tracey Coulter he advised he could not name the UDA
0:24:43 > 0:24:46as responsible for the attack on her home until he got a PSNI
0:24:46 > 0:24:50assessment that this was the case.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53He added, Tracey had then told a newspaper the meeting with him
0:24:53 > 0:24:57was "a waste of time".
0:24:57 > 0:25:00And he decided any future meeting with her would be unwise,
0:25:00 > 0:25:05as it "might well be misrepresented."
0:25:05 > 0:25:08When he met Tracey Coulter, Mr McCausland's Department
0:25:08 > 0:25:12of Social Development was funding the Association.
0:25:12 > 0:25:17In fact, according to figures we requested under Freedom
0:25:17 > 0:25:20of Information, the Department was paying the rent for the building
0:25:20 > 0:25:23and all major staff costs.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26We asked the Department, given Tracey's concerns
0:25:26 > 0:25:29about the association's links to the UDA, if an investigation
0:25:29 > 0:25:35into its funding has taken place.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37It said.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40It is aware of allegations of both criminal and paramilitary activity
0:25:40 > 0:25:43taking place at Lower Shankill Community Association
0:25:43 > 0:25:47and of PSNI investigations.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50But it added it was satisfied that the specific allegations
0:25:50 > 0:25:52were not connected with the community activity
0:25:52 > 0:25:55supported by its funding.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59The Department said it is not aware of anything that would put at risk
0:25:59 > 0:26:04public funds being made available to the organisation.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07It seems, as long as there is no misuse of public funds,
0:26:07 > 0:26:10the department is happy to continue paying rent for offices which it
0:26:10 > 0:26:15knows are allegedly linked to criminal and paramilitary activity.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18While accepting that the police have investigated an assault
0:26:18 > 0:26:22at the offices, the department doesn't say it has made its own
0:26:22 > 0:26:25inquiries into that matter.
0:26:25 > 0:26:30And it continues to fund the group.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32Tracey Coulter's experience sounds very familiar and I think it's
0:26:32 > 0:26:35really an indictment of the whole system.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38I don't think, erm, public bodies and, erm,
0:26:38 > 0:26:40politicians are frightened that the paramilitaries
0:26:40 > 0:26:42are going to do something to them.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45They don't do anything because they don't want to rock
0:26:45 > 0:26:47the peace process boat and they want to continue
0:26:47 > 0:26:50with the cosy relationship, erm, with these guys that
0:26:50 > 0:26:54makes their life easy, that's what's at the bottom of it.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58The recent independent investigation into disbanding paramilitary groups
0:26:58 > 0:27:02recognised this situation.
0:27:02 > 0:27:06But how did it suggest we change it?
0:27:06 > 0:27:09The investigators said the door should remain open to those members
0:27:09 > 0:27:15of the groups who truly want to move on and reintegrate into society.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18They have called for barriers to ex-paramilitaries
0:27:18 > 0:27:21and their families, in terms job opportunities, insurance
0:27:21 > 0:27:24and travel to be removed.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27They have also argued funding of community groups linked
0:27:27 > 0:27:30to paramilitaries is a risk still worth taking, but it has to be
0:27:30 > 0:27:36more strictly monitored.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40You need good accountability and transparency and legitimacy.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43Don't give it to people who are known to be
0:27:43 > 0:27:46gangsters and doing this for the wrong reasons.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48But, in return for support, the disbandment panel wants groups
0:27:48 > 0:27:53like the UDA to now move towards leaving the stage for good.
0:27:53 > 0:27:59Critics say we have tried all this before and it hasn't worked.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02Well, I thought the panel report was a load of old guff.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05I mean we have been throwing money at this problem endlessly
0:28:05 > 0:28:06for the past two decades.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09What I think we need is for the police and
0:28:09 > 0:28:13the state to get serious and to just do their job.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16The politicians have to let the police follow the evidence no
0:28:16 > 0:28:19matter where that leads.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23And certainly depressed areas of Northern Ireland do need funding,
0:28:23 > 0:28:25they do need cash injections but they don't need that money
0:28:25 > 0:28:30going through the prism of paramilitary hands.
0:28:30 > 0:28:34But the independent investigators say they've a new get-tough policy
0:28:34 > 0:28:38for those paramilitaries who do not take advantage of this moment
0:28:38 > 0:28:42to end their activity.
0:28:42 > 0:28:46Everyone is now beginning to realise that, er, paramilitary organisations
0:28:46 > 0:28:52are not simply going to wither away.
0:28:52 > 0:28:55And they're going to have to be tackled, and those who are moving
0:28:55 > 0:28:57to a different place need to move, and move quickly.
0:28:57 > 0:28:59And those who aren't need to be dealt with.
0:28:59 > 0:29:03There needs to be a zero tolerance, and there needs to be whatever
0:29:03 > 0:29:05legislation or regulatory powers, that need to come into place.
0:29:05 > 0:29:10To move forward, er, aggressively, towards the dismantling,
0:29:10 > 0:29:16frustrating and disrupting of these organised crime groups.
0:29:16 > 0:29:20Around ?25 million will be available to law enforcement agencies,
0:29:20 > 0:29:23to try to achieve this dismantling of the groups
0:29:23 > 0:29:27and their organised criminality.
0:29:27 > 0:29:33But will police and politicians see this task through?
0:29:33 > 0:29:38The disbandment panel report warns that politicians, the PSNI
0:29:38 > 0:29:45and public bodies often work too closely with the paramilitaries
0:29:45 > 0:29:47or their community representatives and this is a major problem.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50During our investigation into the Lower Shankill Community
0:29:50 > 0:29:53Association we were told that police attend monthly meetings
0:29:53 > 0:29:55in the offices, along with other public agencies and politicians,
0:29:55 > 0:29:58to discuss local issues.
0:29:58 > 0:30:01And some local people have told us their perception is that the UDA
0:30:01 > 0:30:11and PSNI police the area jointly.
0:30:14 > 0:30:16The panel says that this situation "cannot become a permanent norm",
0:30:16 > 0:30:25as it is damaging public confidence in the policing and justice system.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28It has become almost an expedience, to deal with some of these senior
0:30:28 > 0:30:34figures, to try to quell problems that have arisen.
0:30:34 > 0:30:39That creates a situation within the communities, where
0:30:39 > 0:30:41they seem to be the go to people.
0:30:41 > 0:30:44And that has an effect on the notion of normal law and order,
0:30:44 > 0:30:46within the communities.
0:30:46 > 0:30:50When police officers are seen to be engaging with people
0:30:50 > 0:30:53who are known in the communities, to be senior paramilitary figures.
0:30:53 > 0:30:57Would it concern you?
0:30:57 > 0:30:59Your community officers would be in the Lower Shankill Community
0:30:59 > 0:31:02Association officers on a regular basis,
0:31:02 > 0:31:05those officers are also, erm, frequented by UDA members,
0:31:05 > 0:31:09and members of the public in lower Shankill are saying to us I'm not
0:31:09 > 0:31:11going to go and speak to the police, the police
0:31:11 > 0:31:14are in cahoots with the UDA.
0:31:14 > 0:31:16Well we're not in cahoots with anyone, we will engage
0:31:16 > 0:31:18with community groups, we do that right across
0:31:18 > 0:31:26Northern Ireland.
0:31:26 > 0:31:32The Lower Shankill Community Association is with the police,
0:31:32 > 0:31:34with the housing executive, with other government
0:31:34 > 0:31:35organisations....
0:31:35 > 0:31:36To make communities safer and better.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39None of that is acquiescing to the UDA, none of that is
0:31:39 > 0:31:40legitimising the UDA.
0:31:40 > 0:31:43What we're doing is trying to do what we call policing
0:31:43 > 0:31:44with the community.
0:31:44 > 0:31:46Do you accept that's undermining public confidence
0:31:46 > 0:31:47in your force when...
0:31:47 > 0:31:56When the public sees those relationships?
0:31:56 > 0:31:59Well, I'm not sure that it is because first of all, we'll only
0:31:59 > 0:32:01engage with people er who alleged to have these paramilitary
0:32:01 > 0:32:02connections for a policing purpose.
0:32:02 > 0:32:04So, whatever the engagement is in practical policing
0:32:04 > 0:32:05terms to assist.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08With parades and protest activity there will always be a healthy
0:32:08 > 0:32:11distance between us and people like that so that we can do our duty
0:32:11 > 0:32:12as police officers.
0:32:12 > 0:32:15But the independent panel does not agree.
0:32:15 > 0:32:17It has warned that the PSNI needs to distance itself
0:32:17 > 0:32:23from paramilitaries in communities like the Shankill because
0:32:23 > 0:32:27it does potentially compromise the rule of law.
0:32:27 > 0:32:30The police may have their own reasons for doing that,
0:32:30 > 0:32:34but as we say in the report, there comes a time when that
0:32:34 > 0:32:38umbilical cord that was once needed, perhaps for them to get intelligence
0:32:38 > 0:32:42or to have some kind of control over what is going to happen next week,
0:32:42 > 0:32:45it keeps everything peaceful, it needs to be broken.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48Others believe police are taking the flak for the situation
0:32:48 > 0:32:51on the ground and it is a lack of political leadership at Stormont
0:32:51 > 0:32:57to take on the paramilitaries that is the real problem.
0:32:57 > 0:33:03I think it's a fair assessment to say that some people
0:33:03 > 0:33:08in paramilitary groups have direct links to some people associated
0:33:08 > 0:33:11with the two parties of government, and that is clearly a major issue.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15David Ford says while the Fresh Start Agreement said it will tackle
0:33:15 > 0:33:18paramilitarism, nothing concrete has yet happened.
0:33:18 > 0:33:21I would like to see a real, genuine action plan,
0:33:21 > 0:33:23investments and timescales, so we know that the culture
0:33:23 > 0:33:30is changing, and that those who are standing up for lawful
0:33:30 > 0:33:31activity are being supported, and that requires
0:33:31 > 0:33:36leadership from the top.
0:33:36 > 0:33:40Based on what I've seen so far, I find it difficult to see
0:33:40 > 0:33:42that the Executive is actually going to live up to the responsibilities
0:33:42 > 0:33:44accepted a year ago.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47I don't want anyone under any illusion as to what my determination
0:33:47 > 0:33:48is to deal with these.
0:33:48 > 0:33:50There is a fork in the road coming.
0:33:50 > 0:33:53It is coming up very soon, I want to see the police
0:33:53 > 0:33:55moving in and taking these people out of society.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58But if there are those who are deciding that they want
0:33:58 > 0:34:00to move away from violence and intimidation and paramilitarism,
0:34:00 > 0:34:01then we will work with them.
0:34:01 > 0:34:05One week after the Fresh Start Agreement was signed,
0:34:05 > 0:34:08last year, Aaron McMahon, whom we reported on earlier this
0:34:08 > 0:34:12year, was in his workshop, beneath the family home
0:34:12 > 0:34:15in the Clandeboye area of Bangor when two masked men burst
0:34:15 > 0:34:18in and attacked him with a hammer.
0:34:18 > 0:34:21I just turned round at the last minute and both guys were sort
0:34:21 > 0:34:23of on top of me then.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26It's really just a case of trying to protect yourself as best you can.
0:34:26 > 0:34:28The wife was screaming, the kids were squealing,
0:34:28 > 0:34:30crying, it was a complete mess, you know.
0:34:30 > 0:34:36Aaron fought off the attackers and suffered minor head injuries.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39The attack came after Clandeboye Village Community Association,
0:34:39 > 0:34:46of which he is chairman, had opposed North Down UDA erecting
0:34:46 > 0:34:48paramilitary flags in the area and taking over their 11th
0:34:48 > 0:34:52night community bonfire.
0:34:52 > 0:34:54The leader of this paramilitary faction took great offence
0:34:54 > 0:34:57at the stand I was forced to take through lack of leadership
0:34:57 > 0:34:59from the politicians and the police.
0:34:59 > 0:35:01That paramilitary leader is this man, the Commander of North Down
0:35:01 > 0:35:09UDA, David Stitt.
0:35:09 > 0:35:11Stitt is also the Chief Executive of leading community organisation
0:35:11 > 0:35:13Charter NI.
0:35:13 > 0:35:15A position which comes with a public salary.
0:35:15 > 0:35:19The Board of Charter NI has said it has full confidence in all staff
0:35:19 > 0:35:25within the organisation and does not condone any illegal activity.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28David Stitt has told Spotlight he rejects the allegations
0:35:28 > 0:35:32against him and says his work for Charter NI is positively
0:35:32 > 0:35:33influencing people away from involvement
0:35:33 > 0:35:37in paramilitary life.
0:35:37 > 0:35:41Two men were charged with assault on Aaron.
0:35:41 > 0:35:44But, like Tracey Coulter before him, he is furious that the PSNI refused
0:35:44 > 0:35:48to treat the case as paramilitary linked.
0:35:48 > 0:35:51He believes that to have done so would have upset the relationship
0:35:51 > 0:35:56the PSNI has with North Down UDA.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59Too sensitive.
0:35:59 > 0:36:02It would upset this sort of paid for pretend peace that everyone has
0:36:02 > 0:36:04sort of bought into has been sold.
0:36:04 > 0:36:10They don't want to jeopardise that.
0:36:10 > 0:36:12Give us a hand with this table, love.
0:36:12 > 0:36:14In June this year charges in the case were dropped due
0:36:14 > 0:36:16to insufficient evidence.
0:36:16 > 0:36:19Meanwhile, intimidation of Aaron's family by some local UDA members has
0:36:19 > 0:36:24continued this summer.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27Aaron's daughter Gaynor recently called the PSNI after being followed
0:36:27 > 0:36:32in a car by a known UDA man.
0:36:32 > 0:36:35He says police gave her several options for what they could do,
0:36:35 > 0:36:38and one was that an officer could speak to the man's UDA boss
0:36:38 > 0:36:42to get it to stop.
0:36:42 > 0:36:49The PSNI have told Spotlight no such offer was made.
0:36:49 > 0:36:55But Aaron and his family are adamant it was and angry about this denial.
0:36:55 > 0:37:00Tracey Coulter and Aaron McMahon have said to us that
0:37:00 > 0:37:02when they were attacked by the UDA your force
0:37:02 > 0:37:04refused to name the UDA as being responsible.
0:37:04 > 0:37:06Why is that?
0:37:06 > 0:37:09They feel totally let down by your police force.
0:37:09 > 0:37:11Well, erm, it's always difficult whenever you get into talking
0:37:11 > 0:37:13about specific cases, erm, but er we will name
0:37:13 > 0:37:14organisations when there is an investigational
0:37:14 > 0:37:24or an operational reason to do so.
0:37:25 > 0:37:35Is it not a societal reason to do so?
0:37:36 > 0:37:39Well, if there is, that's one for the politicians
0:37:39 > 0:37:41because our job is to, er, secure evidence and bring
0:37:41 > 0:37:45people before the courts.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48I feel very much like a sitting duck Stephen and have done
0:37:48 > 0:37:51for a while now.
0:37:51 > 0:37:54The police, in my opinion have become so weak in this and issues
0:37:54 > 0:37:57like this and these groups have become so strong
0:37:57 > 0:37:58that they are almost untouchable.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01When Spotlight reported on Aaron McMahon earlier this year,
0:38:01 > 0:38:05for legal reasons we did not mention the hammer attack.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08But we did name David Stitt as the commander of the UDA faction
0:38:08 > 0:38:12who had been intimidating people in Clandeboye.
0:38:12 > 0:38:15And we also told the dup Aaron felt it had abandoned his community
0:38:15 > 0:38:17in the face of this intimidation because the party didn't
0:38:17 > 0:38:24want to upset ties they have with elements of the UDA.
0:38:24 > 0:38:27The DUP denied this was the case.
0:38:27 > 0:38:33But last week, this was First Minister Arlene Foster.
0:38:33 > 0:38:36Standing on her right is UDA commander, David Stitt at a Charter
0:38:36 > 0:38:41NI event in East Belfast.
0:38:41 > 0:38:44She was approving the award of a ?1.7 million government
0:38:44 > 0:38:49contract to the community group.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52You're pictured last week with UDA commander David Stitt,
0:38:52 > 0:38:59he is in charge of faction in North Down that's been
0:38:59 > 0:39:00intimidating members of the local community and you're
0:39:00 > 0:39:03the First Minister of this country and your pictured with him,
0:39:03 > 0:39:05surely you're turning a blind eye.
0:39:05 > 0:39:06No.
0:39:06 > 0:39:08If you're being pictured with that man?
0:39:08 > 0:39:10I'm not turning a blind eye.
0:39:10 > 0:39:13What I'm doing is I'm trying to encourage people to move away
0:39:13 > 0:39:14from their past.
0:39:14 > 0:39:17I mean, for goodness sake, we're in a mandatory coalition
0:39:17 > 0:39:19with Sinn Fein who are part of the republican movement
0:39:19 > 0:39:24who were killing people, killing people of my
0:39:24 > 0:39:27community, for many years.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30Are you seriously suggesting that I walk away from the loyalist
0:39:30 > 0:39:33community and not try to bring them along and try to get them away
0:39:33 > 0:39:43from whatever past they've been involved in?
0:39:43 > 0:39:46But it is in the present that Aaron feels Fresh Start is "empty words."
0:39:46 > 0:39:49He and his community association were prepared to take a stand
0:39:49 > 0:39:50against UDA intimidation in their area.
0:39:50 > 0:39:53But he says politicians and police have undermined his
0:39:53 > 0:39:59faith in law and order.
0:39:59 > 0:40:03Would you do it all again, Aaron?
0:40:03 > 0:40:05I don't think so, Stephen.
0:40:05 > 0:40:07I think too high a price has been paid.
0:40:07 > 0:40:11Especially for my family, in order for us to keep up
0:40:11 > 0:40:14this facade of peace, I think we are sort of seen
0:40:14 > 0:40:18as collateral damage in many respects and that's a sad indictment
0:40:18 > 0:40:22of where we are in 2016.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25Once more, Stormont is planning to pay paramilitaries to go away.
0:40:25 > 0:40:29There's no doubt previous efforts have strengthened the peace process
0:40:29 > 0:40:34but there are those who argue they've effectively legitimised
0:40:34 > 0:40:36these groups, giving them a new kind of community control.
0:40:36 > 0:40:43So, is this really a new dawn, or simply history repeating itself?