Defections and exile decimates Adair's C Company

Up to 50 members of Johnny Adair's lower Shankill-based C Company left the country in the early hours of this morning after the mainstream UDA moved against the renegade faction.

It is thought that Adair's family and his close ally John White were among the party which left for the Larne ferry terminal under police escort.

The group disembarked in Cairnryan, Scotland, at around 6.15am, where they were searched by police. Four people were subsequently held under anti-terrorism laws were questioned but later relaeased.

C Company has now been decimated after the self-imposed exile of its leaders and the news that upwards of 100 members transferred their allegiance to the mainstream UDA overnight.

The feud came to a head last night as the deadline imposed on C Company to disband ran out and UDA activists moved into Adair's stronghold.

Police have reported that at least one shot was fired during disturbances in the area and one man has been arrested.

One local resident said that she was "petrified" during disturbances last night and appealed to loyalists to allow the community to live in peace.

Rector of St Michael's Church on the Shankill Road, Rev Barry Dodds, said that the churches, the politicians and the police service had all failed the community in allowing paramilitarism to take hold.

"There has been a demoralisation that our own security forces have not been able to get on top of a problem that would seem to be fairly open to people," he said.

Former deputy lord mayor, Frank McCoubrey, said: "There was a massive sigh of relief. There are a lot of people who are angry and frustrated… as over 80% of the people living in the lower Shankill are not connected in any way at all with Johnny Adair's C Company or any paramilitary organisation."

SDLP assembly member for north Belfast, Alban Maguinness, voiced his hopes that the feud was now at an end.

"The so-called loyalist feud has caused great concern amongst the nationalist community who fear that, as has been the case in the past, they may now become targets of loyalist violence," he said.

"While there is no doubt that police action in recent months has been more vigorous in dealing with loyalist paramilitaries, firm action must continue to be taken to crackdown on loyalist gangs."

It is not yet clear where the exiled group intends to go but there are loyalists in Scotland who would be sympathetic to them.

At a Policing Board meeting in Belfast today, Chief Constable Hugh Orde described events as similar to a "mafia-style feud" and said that the departure of so many C Company members would have a "calming effect" on the community.

Elsewhere, judgement has been reserved on Johnny Adair's legal challenge against the decision to return him to jail. Adair was jailed on January 10 after Secretary of State Paul Murphy ruled that he had breached the terms of his licence.

(GMcG)