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Revision as of 02:01, 20 January 2013
William Frederick "Willie" Frazer (born 8 July 1960) is an advocate for victims of Irish republican violence in Northern Ireland. He was the founder and leader of the pressure group Families Acting for Innocent Relatives (FAIR). He was also a leader of the Love Ulster campaign.
Background
William Frazer grew up in the village of Whitecross in County Armagh. He is an ex-member of the Territorial Army, and a member of Ian Paisley's Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster. He attended a local Catholic school. His father, Bertie, who was a member of the British Army's Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), was shot dead by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on 30 August 1975. Over the next ten years four members of Frazer's family who were members or ex-members of the police or armed forces were killed by the IRA. An uncle of Frazer's who was a member of the UDR was also wounded in a gun attack.
During the Drumcree conflict, Frazer was a supporter of members of the Orange Order who were demanding the right to march down the Garvaghy Road against the wishes of local residents. Frazer was president of his local Apprentice Boys club at the time.
For a brief period, Frazer ran "The Spot", a nightclub in Tandragee, County Armagh, which closed down after two Protestant civilians, Andrew Robb and David McIlwaine, who had been in the club were stabbed to death in February 2000 by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), after one of them had allegedly made derogatory remarks about dead UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade leader Richard Jameson. Frazer, a father of two, was confronted in an interview on Radio Ulster about the murders by the father of one of the victims.
Frazer applied for a licence to hold a firearm for his personal protection and was turned down, a chief inspector said, based on intelligence that he was known to associate with members of loyalist paramilitaries. During the Smithwick Tribunal (set up to investigate the IRA ambush and killing of RUC officers Harry Breen and Bob Buchanan) it was alleged by a member of Garda Síochána that Frazer was a part of a loyalist paramilitary group called the Red Hand Commando. Frazer denied the allegations, saying they put his life in danger.
FAIR campaign
FAIR, founded by Frazer in 1998, claims to represent the victims of IRA violence in South Armagh. It has been criticised by some, however, for not doing the same for victims of loyalist paramilitary organisations or for those killed by security forces. In the past, Frazer had said of loyalist paramilitary prisoners that "they should never have been locked up in the first place", and that he had "a lot of time for Billy Wright". He has also defended alleged security force collusion with loyalist paramilitaries, stating in an interview with Susan McKay: "If you were in the UDR and your brother was shot, are you telling me you wouldn't ? ... See if a Paki comes from India and kills a Provo? I'm going to shake his hand."
In January 2007 Frazer dismissed Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan's report into security force collusion with loyalist paramilitaries.
In September 2010 the SEUPB revoked all funding to FAIR (more than £800,000 over three years) due to "major failures in the organisation's ability to adhere to the conditions associated with its funding allocation" uncovered following a "thorough audit" of the tendering and administration procedures used by FAIR. In a statement the SEUPB said: "The SEUPB is charged with ensuring the proper use of public money and as such has no option but to revoke all financial assistance, (amounting to approximately £880,000), that has been offered to the organisation... FAIR has been given every opportunity to respond to and address these issues. The decision to revoke and recover all financial assistance given to the project has not been taken lightly, however, given the seriousness of the issues no other recourse is available."
In November 2011 SEUPB announced that it was seeking the return of funding to FAIR and another Markethill victims group, Saver/Naver. FAIR was asked to return £350,000 while Saver/Naver was asked to return £200,000. Former Ulster Unionist Party leader Lord Empey demanded that the conclusions about FAIR's finances be released into the public domain.
In January 2012 Frazer announced a protest march to be held on 25 February through the mainly Catholic south Armagh village of Whitecross, to recall the killing of ten Protestant workmen by the South Armagh Republican Action Force in January 1976 at Kingsmill. He also named individuals whom he accused of responsibility for the massacre. Local MP Conor Murphy dismissed such claims as "the ramblings of a well-known fantasist". Frazer later announced that the march had been postponed "at the request of the Kingsmills families".
A delegation including Frazer, UUP politician Danny Kennedy and relatives of the Kingsmill families travelled to Dublin in September 2012 to seek an apology from the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny. The apology was being sought for what they described as the Irish Republic's "blatant inaction" over the Kingmills killings. The Taoiseach said he couldn't apologise for the actions of the IRA but assured the families there was no hierarchy for victims and their concerns were just as important as any other victims' families. However the families expressed disappointment although Frazer stated he was pleased to have met the Taoiseach.
On 16 November 2012 Frazer announced that he was stepping down as director of FAIR, after he had reviewed a copy of the SEUPB audit report which, he claimed, showed no grounds for demanding the reimbursement of funding. He added "I will still be working in the victims sector."
Political career
In addition to his advocacy for victims, Frazer has contested several elections in County Armagh. He has never been elected, and on most occasions lost his deposit. He ran as an Ulster Independence Movement candidate in the 1996 Forum Elections and the 1998 Assembly elections, and as an independent in the 2003 Assembly elections and a council by-election.
Frazer's best electoral showing was 1,427 votes, 25.9%, in a Newry and Mourne District Council by-election in August 2006 when Frazer had the backing of the local UUP and DUP. The total votes polled 5,587 (47.6% of the local electorate); it was a two candidate race for the Fews Area between Frazer and Sinn Féin candidate Turlough Murphy. The combined Unionist vote in 2005 in the area had been 2,446.
In the 2010 UK general election Frazer contested the Newry and Armagh Parliamentary constituency as an independent candidate. He received 656 votes (1.5%). The seat was retained by Sinn Féin's Conor Murphy who received 18,857 votes.
In the 2011 Assembly elections he was listed as a subscriber for the Traditional Unionist Voice candidate for the Newry and Armagh constituency, Barrie Halliday.
In November 2012 Frazer announced his intention to contest the 2013 Mid Ulster by-election necessitated by Martin McGuinness's decision to resign the parliamentary seat to concentrate on his Assembly role. Frazer was quoted in The Irish News in January 2013 as stating that he would not condemn any paramilitary gunman who killed McGuinness.
Despite his earlier advocacy of Ulster nationalism in 2013 Frazer declared himself in favour of re-establishing direct rule in Northern Ireland.
Love Ulster parade
Frazer was an organiser of the Love Ulster parade in Dublin that had to be cancelled due to rioting. In January 2007, Frazer protested outside the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis in Dublin that voted to join policing structures in Northern Ireland. He "expressed outrage at the idea that the 'law-abiding population' would negotiate with terrorists to get them to support democracy, law and order."
Other activities
In 2004 Frazer invited to South Armagh Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America, an advocate of citizen's militias who had written approvingly of their use against insurgencies in Central America and the Philippines.
Frazer came to wider attention in October 2005 when he got into a public argument with a Redemptorist priest, Father Alec Reid. Frazer made remarks that Catholics had butchered Protestants during the Troubles. Father Reid likened unionist treatment of Catholics to the treatment of the Jews by the Nazis. Reid later apologised for the remark, saying he had lost his temper. Frazer reported Reid to the police for incitement to hatred, but no legal action ensued.
In March 2010, he claimed to have served a civil writ on deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, of Sinn Féin, seeking damages arising from the killing of Frazer's father by the IRA. Sinn Féin and the courts denied that any such writ had been served, but in June 2010 Frazer announced that he would seek to progress his claim in the High Court. There has since been no report of any such litigation.Frazer had previously picketed McGuinness's home in Derry in 2007 to demand support for calls for Libya to compensate victims of IRA attacks.Accompained by two other men Frazer attempted to post a letter to the house but was confronted by local residents and verbally abused.
When McGuinness stood for election in the 2011 Irish presidential election Frazer announced that he and FAIR would picket the main Sinn Féin election events. He said, "If the people of the South want a terrorist to represent them around the world as their president then heaven help them." In the event, however, no such pickets took place.
In October 2011 he attended a protest in Pomeroy against the use of rubble from a demolished police station to level out the playing field of the local GAA club, which hosts an annual tug-of-war event in memory of Seamus Woods, an IRA member killed by the premature explosion of a mortar while attacking the station. The station was the target of many such IRA attacks during The Troubles. Frazer stated that "moving the rubble to the GAA club would cause a lot of heartache for many families. The unionist population is small in Pomeroy and they certainly feel betrayed."
After attending a Sinn Fein conference in November 2011 in Newry he reacted furiously to an apology by Ulster Unionist Party MLA John McCallister for "unionist failings" in the past. Frazer stated that people were "appalled" by McCallister's remarks.
In 2012 when the city council in Florence, Italy, announced its intention to name a street in honour of the late IRA member and hunger striker Bobby Sands, Frazer condemned the move and stated that he wanted a meeting with the council to discuss the issue.
In May 2012, after seeing the Italian flag being flown as part of a cultural event held in Donaghmore's St Patrick's Primary School and mistaking it for the Irish Tricolour, Frazer accused the school for 4-11 year old children of being "the junior headquarters of SF/IRA youth", stating on Facebook that "I wounder do they also train the children in how to use weapons, for it seems they can do what they wont." Concerned for the safety of students and the school's reputation, teachers informed police of the accusations and photographs of the school posted by Frazer were later removed from Facebook.
Frazer expressed outrage after his car was stopped and searched by the PSNI in October 2012 under anti-terror laws. He announced his intention to report the incident to his solicitor and the Police Ombudsman. The incident occurred outside Whitecross and Frazer's wallet and documents were taken away for examination. Unknown to police, he made a voice recording on his mobile phone. He had taken photos of the cars the police were in but police removed the camera from Frazer and deleted the images. Police provided no explanation to Frazer as to why the stop and search procedure was undertaken.
On 3 January 2013 Frazer said that he had contacted An Garda Síochána to inform them that he and some followers would hold a protest in Dublin over the decision by Belfast City Council to reduce the number of days the Union Flag flew above Belfast City Hall. Shortly thereafter he became spokesman of the "interim committee" of the Ulster People's Forum, one of a number of loyalist umbrella groups established to co-ordinate the protests.
See also
References
- Time is running out FAIR, 11 January 2009
- McKay, Susan (2005). Northern Protestants: An unsettled people. The Blackstaff Press. ISBN 978-0-85640-771-0.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters:|coauthors=and|month=(help) - McKay, Pgs:195
- McKay, Pgs: 188-189
- ^ McKay, Pgs:194
- McKay, Pgs: 192 -193
- McKay, Pgs: 192
- David McIlwaine and Andrew Robb killer Stephen Brown loses appeal BBC News, 24 November 2011
- "The terrorists are back. The lessons from history haven’t been learned" The Sun 29 January 2011 Retrieved 25 October 2012
- Willie Frazer: Police won’t let me have a gun Belfast Telegraph, 29 August 2009
- Frazer's gun fight victory The Mirror, 19 September 2003
- Protection move after court plea BBC News, 27 October 2004
- http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/local/frazer-set-to-appear-at-dublin-probe-1-4241723
- http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/local/frazer-wants-to-appear-at-smithwick-1-4125206
- http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-33316392.html
- Susan McKay Bitter Hatreds that underpin Love Ulster Parade in Dublin The Irish Times, 25 February 2006 (IndyMedia Ireland)
- Ballast Public Statement IndyMedia Ireland, 22 January 2007
- ^ Susan McKay Disgusting justification for sectarian murders Irish News, 30 January 2007 (Newshound, 31 January 2007)
- "Victims group FAIR has £800,000 European funding axed". BBC News. 15 September 2010.
- "Victims group FAIR has to return £350,000 of European funding". BBC News. 9 November 2011.
- Empey calls for public release of FAIR report News Letter, 8 February 2012
- Kingsmills 'murderers' are named News Letter, 5 January 2010
- Kingsmills memorial march postponed UTV News, 22 February 2012
- "Families of Kingsmills victims seek government apology" BBC News 13 September 2012 Retrieved 15 September 2012
- "Kingsmills victims' relatives unhappy with Taoiseach meeting" BBC News13 September 2012 Retrieved 15 September 2012
- "Willie Frazer steps down from victims' group Fair", BBC News, 16 November 2012
- Election of a Member of Parliament for the NEWRY AND ARMAGH Constituency - STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED and NOTICE OF POLL Electoral Office for Northern Ireland, 21 April 2010
- Election of Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly for the NEWRY AND ARMAGH Constituency - STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED and NOTICE OF POLL Electoral Office for Northern Ireland, 5 May 2011
- "Frazer to stand in by-election", The Irish News, 10 November 2012
- "Willie Frazer: I wouldn’t condemn the shooting of Martin McGuinness", The Irish News, 11 January 2013
- New flag protest group want ‘direct rule’
- Adams urges SF support for police BBC News, 28 January 2007
- Susan McKay US extremist calls for NI Protestants to be armed Sunday Tribune, 25 April 2004 (Newshound, 29 April 2004)
- Witness likens unionists to Nazis BBC News, 12 October 2005
- McGuinness facing civil court action News Letter, 21 June 2010
- "Protest at McGuinness's home sparks row in street" Belfast Telegraph University of Ulster Archives 21 September 2007 Retrieved 9 November 2012
- Victims group to picket McGuinness campaign News Letter, 19 October 2011
- ^ Victims feel betrayed over rubble row News Letter, 11 October 2011
- Pomeroy police station to be demolished Ulster Herald, 17 August 2011; Retrieved 16 February 2012
- Willie Frazer furious over UUP deputy's apology for Unionist failings Belfast Telegraph, 21 November 2011
- Hunger striker gets Italian street cred The Sun, 14 March 2012
- IRA HQ claim over school's Italian flag UTV News, 17 May 2012
- "Anti terror police search Willie Frazer" The Newsletter 22 October 2012
- McDonald, Henry (4 January 2013). "Ulster loyalists plan Dublin demonstration over union flag". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
- Bradley, Una (5 January 2013). "Loyalists to request lowering of Tricolour". The Irish Times. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
- Protests 'release valve' for loyalist anger says Frazer
