Prominent loyalist UVF boss listed as a director of several companies

Grandson of UVF murder victim urges housing body remove Irvine as trustee

      SPEAKING OUT: UVF (right) boss              Winston Irvine, SDLP councillor Carl           Whyte whose grandmother Peggy              Whyte was murdered by the UVF                                      in 1984.

The grandson of a UVF murder victim has called for prominent loyalist Winston 'Winkie' Irvine to be removed as a trustee of a west Belfast housing association. Belfast-based SDLP councillor Carl Whyte spoke out after it emerged that Mr Irvine is listed as a trustee of Woodville and Shankill Community Housing Association (WSCHA).

.    UNMASKED: Winston 'Winkie' Irvine 

It is one of 20 registered housing associations, which manage existing stock and in some cases provide new social housing, across the north. Mr Irvine was one of two men arrested last Wednesday by police investigating a hoax bomb alert targeting Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney in north Belfast in March.

He appeared in court at the weekend charged with several offences including possession of firearms and ammunition in suspicious circumstances. Another man, 51-year-old Robin Workman, appeared in court on Monday in connection with the same incident. Workman, of Shore Road in Larne, was remanded into custody also on firearms charges.

   Peggy Whyte, who was murdered in a                 UVF bomb blast in 1984. 

Mr Whyte's grandmother Peggy Whyte (52) was murdered alongside RUC officer Michael Dawson (22) in a UVF bomb blast outside her home on Belfast's University Street in April 1984. Mr Whyte on Tuesday night said: "Any individual facing serious firearms and ammunition charges should not hold positions of responsibility such as these, particularly when it comes to important public services like the provision of social housing," he said. 

"Mr Irvine should immediately step aside from the director and trustee positions he holds pending the outcome of the case."

Mr Whyte added that if Mr Irvine is unwilling to voluntarily step aside the housing association regulator, the Housing Regulation Branch based at the Department for Communities,"should take appropriate action to remove him from the positions of responsibility he continues to hold".

   LCC: Loyalist Communities Council, Mr           Irvine (right), made up of loyalist          paramilitaries UDA, UVF and Red Hand                          Commando. 

A well-known public figure, Mr Irvine is a member of the Loyalist Communities Council (LCC) and a former communications officer with the PUP. He is a former member of North Belfast Community Safety Partnership and sits on several other bodies. Companies House records show that Mr Irvine is listed as a director in several firms, including Duncairn Community Partnership Ltd. 

He is also registered as a director of Twaddell and Woodvale Residents' Association, which has an address (where he lives) at Twaddell Avenue. Other appointments include a director's role at NI Research and Consultancy Ltd, located in Portadown. Mr Irvine is also included as a director at WGS Property Enterprises, which lists the nature of its business as "other building compilation and finishing" and WGS New Developments Ltd, which is involved in "construction of domestic buildings". 

A spokesman for the Department for Communities said: "The department is aware of this issue and is currently looking into the matter."

Attempts were made to contact WSCHA.

With many thanks to the: Irish News and Connla Young for the original publication.

Follow these links to find out more on this story: Loyalist's employer silent over his future

UVF Boss Winston 'Winkie' Irvine appears in court on firearms and ammunition charges

UVF activist Winston Irvine due in court on firearms charges