Johnny Adair: Alone and isolated

Adair, deserted by his followers in the UDA

The bloody feud within the Ulster Defence Association has been linked to the deaths of four men in the past two months. BBC Ireland Correspondent Mark Simpson profiles one of the leading figures behind the resurgent violence in Northern Ireland

The face of Johnny Adair is better known in Northern Ireland than most politicians.

For all the wrong reasons, this middle-aged man from Belfast's Shankill Road has been the centre of attention, at a time when the focus was supposed to be on peace, not war.

And for successive Northern Ireland Secretaries of State - including Mo Mowlam and Peter Mandelson - one of the defining moments of their term of office was trying to answer the question - what will we do about Johnny?

Today, Adair is in a prison cell in Maghaberry jail, near Lisburn.

What he wanted most was power, dominance and control but, ultimately, he couldn't even control himself.

Adair is dedicated to his cause, which was nakedly sectarian in its hatred of those he regarded as militant republicans - among whom he had lumped almost the entire Catholic population

Prosecution lawyer during Adair's 1995 trial

His aim had been to unite Northern Ireland's largest loyalist paramilitary group - the UDA - under his leadership.

But instead he ended up uniting the group against him.

While he lies behind bars, his wife and family have fled the Shankill, and his paramilitary support base has vanished.

'Sad Dog'

The man once hailed by fellow paramilitaries as a hero is now regarded as an embarrassment.

Hardline loyalists who used to call him 'Mad Dog' Adair now refer to him as 'Sad Dog'.

His former allies have taken great pleasure in altering murals in the Shankill area to ensure everyone knows about the new nickname.

The UDA is still active in the area, but the local graffiti now says the Shankill is "under new management".

Former allies changing the face of Shankill

Adair's cult status within the terrorist underworld was gained in the early 1990s.

Within Catholic parts of Belfast, he was feared and loathed in equal measure.

He organised a series of brutal attacks in nationalist areas.

So pleased with himself, he could not help boasting about his exploits.

Police knew he was a terrorist leader, but lacked the evidence to charge him.

That was until Adair made one boast too many - to an under-cover police officer, who recorded the conversation.

He was charged with directing terrorism.

At his 1995 trial, the prosecuting lawyer said Adair, then 31, was "dedicated to his cause, which was nakedly sectarian in its hatred of those it regarded as militant republicans - among whom he had lumped almost the entire Catholic population".

Good Friday Agreement

He was given a 16-year sentence but served barely half of it.

He was released in September 1999, under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement which allowed paramilitary prisoners home early.

While behind bars, he had been considered one of the key figures in securing the support of loyalist prisoners for the peace process.

In 1998, the then Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam met Adair and others to try to persuade them not to give up on the process.

Mo Mowlam met Adair at the Maze in 1998

The visit was a success.

When he was released 18 months later, Adair said he would work for a lasting peace.

But his words did not match his actions.

By the summer of 2000, he was already considered by police to be a risk to peace.

Tensions broke out between his so-called 'C Company' of the UDA, and a rival loyalist group, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).

A bloody feud broke out - seven people were shot dead, and hundreds of families were forced to leave their homes.

The then Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson ordered that Adair be re-arrested.

Within hours he was back in jail.

The authorities said he had been involved in drug-dealing and paramilitary activity, but his spell behind bars was only a temporary one.

Loyalist Tensions

He was released on 15 May 2002 and returned to his powerbase in the lower Shankill.

It wasn't long before more loyalist tensions started to simmer.

Adair's links with a loyalist splinter group, the LVF, began to raise doubts about his loyalty to his fellow UDA leaders.

The UDA was involved in a feud with the LVF, and Adair was seen as having a foot in both camps - a dangerous position to be in.

The LVF-UDA hostilities were later settled but Adair and his close colleague John White were expelled from the UDA.

Yet another feud then broke out - this time between Adair's 'C Company' and the mainstream UDA. A series of attacks followed resulting in the murders of two men.

Adair was arrested and returned to prison on 10 January 2003 after the Northern Ireland Secretary, Paul Murphy, received a security briefing that he was involved in directing terrorism, drugs, extortion and distributing weapons.

'Showdown of the Shankill'

On 2 February, just when many people thought the feud may be drawing to a close, two more men were murdered - one a high-ranking member of the UDA.

John Gregg, the 45-year-old leader of the UDA in south east Antrim, was killed when the taxi he was travelling in was ambushed near the docks area of Belfast.

The hail of bullets also killed Robert Carson - he too was a member of the UDA.

Supporters of Johnny Adair were blamed for the double murder.

'Sad Dog' Adair

This brought the feud to a head.

Faced with death threats, more than 100 members of 'C Company' defected to other parts of the UDA, breaking links with Adair.

Then, hours before Gregg's funeral, about 20 of Adair's closest followers, including his wife, Gina, and associate John White, fled their homes for Scotland.

This "showdown on the Shankill" left Adair isolated.

He is due to be released from jail in 2005 but given the number of enemies he has on the outside, he may be in no hurry to return home.