Red Hand Defenders

The name 'Red Hand Defenders', a Loyalist paramilitary grouping, was first used 1998. Initially the group was believed to be made up of dissident members of other Loyalist paramilitary goups who were opposed to the Good Friday Agreement. It was thought that the RHD had drawn its members from the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), and also elements of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) (and the UDA's covername the Ulster Freedom Fighters; UFF). The RHD first came to prominence when it claimed responsibility for a blast bomb attack on 7 September 1998 which killed Frankie O'Reilly, a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officer. (This attack occured during an Orange Order demonstration at Drumcree against the decision not to allow the Order to parade through the Catholic Garvaghy Road area of Portadown, County Armagh.) The group claimed responsibility for the killing of Brain Service (35), a Catholic civilian, on 2 November 1998. The RHD also claimed responsibility for the killing of Rosemary Nelson, a Catholic human rights solicitor, in Lurgan on 15 March 1999. In addition to the killings the RHD has also claimed numerous blast bomb attacks on Catholic families across Northern Ireland. The RHD appeared at around the same time as the Orange Volunteers and initially commentators believed that the same people were involved in both paramilitary groups. However, in the middle of 2001 there was further speculation that the RHD was being used as a covername (a pseudonym, or 'flag of convenience') by members of the LVF and the UDA / UFF under which these organisations could carry out attacks without taking the blame. If this is true then the RHD is a non-existent organisation. Membership: The RHD and the OV are the most recent Loyalist paramilitary organisations and both came to prominence in 1998. A number of commentators believe the two groups draw on the same pool of support which may number several dozen. Arsenal: Both organisations have used home-made 'pipe bombs' (or blast bombs), but also appear to have access to grenades and hand guns. (See also: Orange Volunteers.)