Glenn Barr
Encyclopedia
Glenn Barr, OBE
(born 1932), is a former politician from Derry
, Northern Ireland
who was an advocate of Ulster nationalism
. For a time during the 1970s he straddled both Unionism
and Loyalism
due to simultaneously holding important positions in the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
and the Ulster Defence Association
.
, Barr first came to prominence at the very start of the Troubles
in 1969 when he was involved in an initiative to ensure Protestant workers did not join in strikes called by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association
. He went on to join the Loyalist Association of Workers
in the early 1970s and from there became involved in the Ulster Defence Association
(UDA). The loose associations of shop stewards that existed in Derry and the surrounding areas frmed the basis of the UDA in this area. Indeed it was Barr who served as Brigadier of the North-West Brigade of the UDA, which would later be known as the Londonderry and North Antrim Brigade.
(VPUP) and was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly
, which had been set up under the Sunningdale Agreement
, in 1973. As a result Barr was the only UDA member to serve in either of the two bodies elected in Northern Ireland following the collapse of the Stormont Parliament. However according to Ian S. Wood it had been Barr's profile as a trade unionist and community worker, rather than any UDA connections, that had won him the election.
He soon became a leading figure in the opposition to Sunningdale agreement and effectively led the Ulster Workers' Council strike
that brought about the collapse of the new power-sharing government. Barr was chairman of the Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee
, a group containing Ulster Workers' Council representatives, politcians and paramilitaries that directed the strike. He would later comment that it would have been feasible to establish a provisional government for an independent Northern Ireland from this body.
Always something of a maverick within Unionist politics, Barr served a three month suspension from the United Ulster Unionist Council
(UUUC) after endorsing the candidacy of Ken Gibson
of the Volunteer Political Party
for West Belfast
in the October 1974 general election
despite the Democratic Unionist Party
's John McQuade
representing the UUUC. During his suspension Barr was part of a UDA delegation that made a fund-rasining trip to Libya
where they met with Muammar Gaddafi
. Barr claimed when he returned that Gaddafi, who at the time was funding the Provisional IRA, had expressed a firm interest in providing money for an independent Northern Ireland. The trip however, on which Barr was accompanied by Tommy Lyttle
and Harry Chicken, was widely condemned by unionist politicians because of the purportedly left-wing nature of the Gaddafi regime whilst the same reason was used a basis by Charles Harding Smith
to launch a loyalist feud
against UDA leader Andy Tyrie
, whose idea the trip had been. In the course of this feud, Harding Smith placed Barr under a death threat, although nothing came of this as the pro-Tyrie forces quickly dispatched the challenge of Harding Smith.
When the VPUP split after leader William Craig suggested in the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
that he would consider a power-sharing arrangement with the Social Democratic and Labour Party
Barr was one of the few leading figures to remain loyal to Craig rather than decamping to Ernest Baird
's United Ulster Unionist Party
. When the UDA intimated that it did not back Craig's position either Barr tendered his resignation from the paramilitary group. Barr, who had exchanged angry words with Ian Paisley
on a few occasions when both men were central to the 1974 strike, publicly distanced himself from the attempted strike organised by Paisley's United Unionist Action Council in 1977. Along with David Trimble
he became deputy leader of the Vanguard and held this position until the party dissolution in 1978. He, however, did follow Craig in joining the Ulster Unionist Party
and instead returned to his UDA roots.
with a Union Jack tied to its tail up the Shankill Road, and we would have voted for it." Barr was also chosen to break the self-imposed media blackout adopted by the NUPRG in late 1978 when he gave an interview to the Irish political magazine Magill
during which he put forward the case for independence.
The UDA, however, failed to recommend the proposals to its members and, as a result, Barr drifted away from the NUPRG, leaving politics altogether in 1981 to return to community work in Derry. Barr also had a somewhat fractious relationship with the NUPRG's chairman John McMichael
and following Barr's retirement McMichael changed the group, abandoning Barr's pet project of establishing a cross-community Northern Ireland Negotiated Independence Association, and instead set up the Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party.
, who established a similar scheme in the Catholic Bogside
area, would eventually face criticism for what became known colloquially "ACE empires" as both employed very high numbers of youths on these poorly paid training schemes.
Barr briefly emerged from his political retirement in 1994 when he joined his old friend from the strike Andy Tyrie
in heading up an initiative to gain funding for the Ulster Democratic Party
. He appeared set for a more active return in 1998 when he took up a seat on the Parades Commission
, a move roundly condemned by nationalists
, given Barr's UDA
past, and one that saw resignations from the board in protest. Ultimately, however, Barr himself resigned on 24 April 1998, along with loyalist Tommy Cheevers not long after the Commission had banned an Apprentice Boys
parade from the nationalist lower Ormeau Road
. No longer involved in politics, Barr continues to work on community projects in Derry, running the Maydown Youth Training Project Ltd, which seeks to alleviate the high levels of unemployment amongst the young in the Derry. He has also worked closely with Paddy Harte
, a former Irish Government
minister, on promoting awareness of Irish Catholic
participation in both World Wars.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 1932), is a former politician from Derry
Derry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
who was an advocate of Ulster nationalism
Ulster nationalism
Ulster nationalism is the name given to a school of thought in Northern Irish politics that seeks the independence of Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom without becoming part of the Republic of Ireland, thereby becoming an independent sovereign state separate from England, Scotland and Wales...
. For a time during the 1970s he straddled both Unionism
Unionism in Ireland
Unionism in Ireland is an ideology that favours the continuation of some form of political union between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain...
and Loyalism
Ulster loyalism
Ulster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...
due to simultaneously holding important positions in the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
The Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party , informally known as Ulster Vanguard, was a unionist political party which existed in Northern Ireland between 1973 and 1978...
and the Ulster Defence Association
Ulster Defence Association
The Ulster Defence Association is the largest although not the deadliest loyalist paramilitary and vigilante group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 and undertook a campaign of almost twenty-four years during "The Troubles"...
.
UDA
Initially a member of a general trade unionTrade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
, Barr first came to prominence at the very start of the Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
in 1969 when he was involved in an initiative to ensure Protestant workers did not join in strikes called by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association
Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association
The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association was an organisation which campaigned for equal civil rights for the all the people in Northern Ireland during the late 1960s and early 1970s...
. He went on to join the Loyalist Association of Workers
Loyalist Association of Workers
The Loyalist Association of Workers was a militant unionist organisation in Northern Ireland that sought to mobilise trade union members in support of the loyalist cause...
in the early 1970s and from there became involved in the Ulster Defence Association
Ulster Defence Association
The Ulster Defence Association is the largest although not the deadliest loyalist paramilitary and vigilante group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 and undertook a campaign of almost twenty-four years during "The Troubles"...
(UDA). The loose associations of shop stewards that existed in Derry and the surrounding areas frmed the basis of the UDA in this area. Indeed it was Barr who served as Brigadier of the North-West Brigade of the UDA, which would later be known as the Londonderry and North Antrim Brigade.
Politics
Around this time Barr also became involved in politics by joining the Vanguard Progressive Unionist PartyVanguard Progressive Unionist Party
The Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party , informally known as Ulster Vanguard, was a unionist political party which existed in Northern Ireland between 1973 and 1978...
(VPUP) and was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
, which had been set up under the Sunningdale Agreement
Sunningdale Agreement
The Sunningdale Agreement was an attempt to establish a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive and a cross-border Council of Ireland. The Agreement was signed at the Civil Service College in Sunningdale Park located in Sunningdale, Berkshire, on 9 December 1973.Unionist opposition, violence and...
, in 1973. As a result Barr was the only UDA member to serve in either of the two bodies elected in Northern Ireland following the collapse of the Stormont Parliament. However according to Ian S. Wood it had been Barr's profile as a trade unionist and community worker, rather than any UDA connections, that had won him the election.
He soon became a leading figure in the opposition to Sunningdale agreement and effectively led the Ulster Workers' Council strike
Ulster Workers' Council Strike
The Ulster Workers' Council strike was a general strike that took place in Northern Ireland between 15 May and 28 May 1974, during "The Troubles". The strike was called by loyalists and unionists who were against the Sunningdale Agreement, which had been signed in December 1973...
that brought about the collapse of the new power-sharing government. Barr was chairman of the Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee
Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee
The Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee was set up in 1974 in the aftermath of the Ulster Workers Council Strike, in order to facilitate meetings and policy co-ordination between the Ulster Workers Council, the loyalist paramilitaries and the political representatives of...
, a group containing Ulster Workers' Council representatives, politcians and paramilitaries that directed the strike. He would later comment that it would have been feasible to establish a provisional government for an independent Northern Ireland from this body.
Always something of a maverick within Unionist politics, Barr served a three month suspension from the United Ulster Unionist Council
United Ulster Unionist Council
The United Ulster Unionist Council was a body that sought to bring together the Unionists opposed to the Sunningdale Agreement in Northern Ireland.-Formation:The UUUC was established in January 1974...
(UUUC) after endorsing the candidacy of Ken Gibson
Ken Gibson (loyalist)
Kenneth "Ken" Gibson was a Northern Irish politician, who acted as the Chairman of the Volunteer Political Party which he had helped to form in 1974...
of the Volunteer Political Party
Volunteer Political Party
The Volunteer Political Party was a loyalist political party launched in Northern Ireland on 22 June 1974 by members of the then recently legalised Ulster Volunteer Force . The Chairman was Ken Gibson from East Belfast, an ex-internee and UVF chief of staff at the time...
for West Belfast
Belfast West (UK Parliament constituency)
Belfast West is a parliamentary constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.-Boundaries:The seat was restored in 1922 when as part of the establishment of the devolved Stormont Parliament for Northern Ireland, the number of MPs in the Westminster Parliament was drastically cut...
in the October 1974 general election
United Kingdom general election, October 1974
The United Kingdom general election of October 1974 took place on 10 October 1974 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. It was the second general election of that year and resulted in the Labour Party led by Harold Wilson, winning by a tiny majority of 3 seats.The election of...
despite the Democratic Unionist Party
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the...
's John McQuade
John McQuade
John McQuade , known as Johnny McQuade, was a Northern Ireland politician. He was a professional boxer under the name of Jack Higgins....
representing the UUUC. During his suspension Barr was part of a UDA delegation that made a fund-rasining trip to Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
where they met with Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
. Barr claimed when he returned that Gaddafi, who at the time was funding the Provisional IRA, had expressed a firm interest in providing money for an independent Northern Ireland. The trip however, on which Barr was accompanied by Tommy Lyttle
Tommy Lyttle
Tommy "Tucker" Lyttle , was a high-ranking Northern Irish loyalist who was a member of the Ulster Defence Association . He served as the UDA's spokesman as well as the leader of the organisation's West Belfast Brigade from 1975 until his arrest and imprisonment in 1990...
and Harry Chicken, was widely condemned by unionist politicians because of the purportedly left-wing nature of the Gaddafi regime whilst the same reason was used a basis by Charles Harding Smith
Charles Harding Smith
Charles Harding Smith was a loyalist leader in Northern Ireland and the first effective leader of the Ulster Defence Association...
to launch a loyalist feud
Loyalist feud
A loyalist feud refers to any of the sporadic feuds which have erupted almost routinely between Northern Ireland's various loyalist paramilitary groups since they were founded shortly before and after the religious/political conflict known as The Troubles broke out in the late 1960s...
against UDA leader Andy Tyrie
Andy Tyrie
Andrew "Andy" Tyrie is an Ulster loyalist and served as commander of the Ulster Defence Association during much of its early history...
, whose idea the trip had been. In the course of this feud, Harding Smith placed Barr under a death threat, although nothing came of this as the pro-Tyrie forces quickly dispatched the challenge of Harding Smith.
When the VPUP split after leader William Craig suggested in the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention was an elected body set up in 1975 by the UK Labour government of Harold Wilson as an attempt to deal with constitutional issues surrounding the status of Northern Ireland....
that he would consider a power-sharing arrangement with the Social Democratic and Labour Party
Social Democratic and Labour Party
The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social-democratic, Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. Its basic party platform advocates Irish reunification, and the further devolution of powers while Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom...
Barr was one of the few leading figures to remain loyal to Craig rather than decamping to Ernest Baird
Ernest Baird
Ernest Baird was a politician in Northern Ireland. Baird was born in County Donegalin the Irish Free State but moved with his family to Belfast at an early age....
's United Ulster Unionist Party
United Ulster Unionist Party
The United Ulster Unionist Party was a unionist political party which existed in Northern Ireland between 1975 and 1984.It emerged from a division in the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party in the late 1970s...
. When the UDA intimated that it did not back Craig's position either Barr tendered his resignation from the paramilitary group. Barr, who had exchanged angry words with Ian Paisley
Ian Paisley
Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, PC is a politician and church minister in Northern Ireland. As the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party , he and Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness were elected First Minister and deputy First Minister respectively on 8 May 2007.In addition to co-founding...
on a few occasions when both men were central to the 1974 strike, publicly distanced himself from the attempted strike organised by Paisley's United Unionist Action Council in 1977. Along with David Trimble
David Trimble
William David Trimble, Baron Trimble, PC , is a politician from Northern Ireland. He served as Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party , was the first First Minister of Northern Ireland , and was a Member of the British Parliament . He is currently a life peer for the Conservative Party...
he became deputy leader of the Vanguard and held this position until the party dissolution in 1978. He, however, did follow Craig in joining the Ulster Unionist Party
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
and instead returned to his UDA roots.
Return to UDA activity
Barr had been invited back into the UDA after the failure of the second strike, with a feeling within the movement that he had proven right right with his opposition to the failed initiative and so would be an asset politically to the movement. Following the collapse of Vanguard Barr returned to a leading position in the UDA, becoming involved in the New Ulster Political Research Group (NUPRG). Whilst there, Barr took a leading role in the production of Beyond the Religious Divide, a document which sought to set out a framework for a move towards eventual independence for Northern Ireland. Barr became increasingly disillusioned with what he saw as the callousness of unionist politicians towards their electorate, and the blind loyalty of that electorate. He commented: "They could have sent a donkeyDonkey
The donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E...
with a Union Jack tied to its tail up the Shankill Road, and we would have voted for it." Barr was also chosen to break the self-imposed media blackout adopted by the NUPRG in late 1978 when he gave an interview to the Irish political magazine Magill
Magill
Magill was an Irish politics and current affairs magazine founded by Vincent Browne and others in 1977. Magill was widely perceived as groundbreaking, specialising in in-depth investigative articles and colourful reportage by journalists such as Eamonn McCann and Gene Kerrigan...
during which he put forward the case for independence.
The UDA, however, failed to recommend the proposals to its members and, as a result, Barr drifted away from the NUPRG, leaving politics altogether in 1981 to return to community work in Derry. Barr also had a somewhat fractious relationship with the NUPRG's chairman John McMichael
John McMichael
John "Big John" McMichael was a leading Northern Irish loyalist who rose to become the most prominent figure within the Ulster Defence Association as the Deputy Commander and leader of its South Belfast Brigade. He was also commander of the organisation's cover name, the "Ulster Freedom Fighters"...
and following Barr's retirement McMichael changed the group, abandoning Barr's pet project of establishing a cross-community Northern Ireland Negotiated Independence Association, and instead set up the Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party.
Later years
Barr set up a scheme for disadvantaged young people by which they would receive low-wage employment and training under the government's ACE scheme (later called the New Deal). Both Barr and Paddy DohertyPaddy Doherty
Patrick Doherty is a former activist in Derry, Northern Ireland.As vice-chairman of the Derry Citizens Defence Association Doherty played a major role in the events of August 1969 which culminated in the Battle of the Bogside, and was a leading figure in Free Derry in the years following its...
, who established a similar scheme in the Catholic Bogside
Bogside
The Bogside is a neighbourhood outside the city walls of Derry, Northern Ireland. The area has been a focus point for many of the events of The Troubles, from the Battle of the Bogside and Bloody Sunday in the 1960s and 1970s...
area, would eventually face criticism for what became known colloquially "ACE empires" as both employed very high numbers of youths on these poorly paid training schemes.
Barr briefly emerged from his political retirement in 1994 when he joined his old friend from the strike Andy Tyrie
Andy Tyrie
Andrew "Andy" Tyrie is an Ulster loyalist and served as commander of the Ulster Defence Association during much of its early history...
in heading up an initiative to gain funding for the Ulster Democratic Party
Ulster Democratic Party
The Ulster Democratic Party was a small loyalist political party in Northern Ireland. It was established in June 1981 as the Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party by the Ulster Defence Association to replace their New Ulster Political Research Group...
. He appeared set for a more active return in 1998 when he took up a seat on the Parades Commission
Parades Commission
The Parades Commission is a quasi-judicial non-departmental public body responsible for placing restrictions on or banning outright any parades in Northern Ireland it deems contentious or offensive. It is composed of seven members, all of whom are appointed by the Secretary of State for Northern...
, a move roundly condemned by nationalists
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
, given Barr's UDA
Ulster Defence Association
The Ulster Defence Association is the largest although not the deadliest loyalist paramilitary and vigilante group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 and undertook a campaign of almost twenty-four years during "The Troubles"...
past, and one that saw resignations from the board in protest. Ultimately, however, Barr himself resigned on 24 April 1998, along with loyalist Tommy Cheevers not long after the Commission had banned an Apprentice Boys
Apprentice Boys of Derry
The Apprentice Boys of Derry is a Protestant fraternal society with a worldwide membership of over 80,000, founded in 1814. They are based in the city of Derry, Northern Ireland. However, there are Clubs and branches across Ireland, Great Britain and further afield...
parade from the nationalist lower Ormeau Road
Ormeau Road
The Ormeau Road is a road in south Belfast, Northern Ireland. Ormeau Park is adjacent to it. It forms part of the A24.-History:Having previously been the home of George Chichester, 2nd Marquess of Donegall, a road was first built in 1815, when it was known more commonly as the New Ballynafeigh Road...
. No longer involved in politics, Barr continues to work on community projects in Derry, running the Maydown Youth Training Project Ltd, which seeks to alleviate the high levels of unemployment amongst the young in the Derry. He has also worked closely with Paddy Harte
Paddy Harte
Paddy Harte, Honorary OBE, Honorary LLD is a retired Irish Fine Gael party politician who served for 36 years as Teachta Dála for Donegal North East.-Political career:...
, a former Irish Government
Irish Government
The Government of Ireland is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland.-Members of the Government:Membership of the Government is regulated fundamentally by the Constitution of Ireland. The Government is headed by a prime minister called the Taoiseach...
minister, on promoting awareness of Irish Catholic
Irish Catholic
Irish Catholic is a term used to describe people who are both Roman Catholic and Irish .Note: the term is not used to describe a variant of Catholicism. More particularly, it is not a separate creed or sect in the sense that "Anglo-Catholic", "Old Catholic", "Eastern Orthodox Catholic" might be...
participation in both World Wars.