Reid meets loyalist leader
Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid today met the Province’s most feared loyalist paramilitary leader Johnny Adair and told him: work with me to end the sectarian violence.
In an unprecedented move Dr Reid and the Ulster Defence Association chief came face to face at an event in east Belfast as the Government mounted a new bid to ease the disorder in flashpoint areas of the city.
As he arrived for the meeting, Dr Reid stressed he had a clear message for all paramilitary organisations.
He said: ‘‘If you want to work for a constructive political resolution to our problems and a better Northern Ireland I will work with you.
‘‘If you’re wedded to the old ways and you are stuck to the path of violence I will oppose you by every means at my disposal.’’
Adair, who was freed from jail earlier this year after serving out a sentence for directing terrorism, was part of a delegation including representatives from the Loyalist Commission, an umbrella group including paramilitaries, politicians and church leaders, who attended today’s event at east Belfast’s Mission church hall.
Dressed in a dark suit, he made no comment as he arrived at the venue where Dr Reid had planned a meeting with church and community representatives tackling homelessness in the area.
The UDA boss was part of a delegation which met former Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam inside the Maze prison near Lisburn, County Antrim, in January 1998 just weeks before the Good Friday agreement was signed.
But with Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams earlier pledging to work to stop republicans instigating street violence, Dr Reid and Adair’s first public encounter was regarded as highly significant.
