Editing Loyalist Volunteer Force (section)

===Early days===
[[Billy Wright (loyalist)|Billy Wright]] was the leader of the Mid-Ulster Brigade of the [[Ulster Volunteer Force (1966)|Ulster Volunteer Force]] (UVF),<ref name="mult">[http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20000709/ai_n13951172 Loyalists' feud calls halt to ceasefire] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080422205757/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20000709/ai_n13951172 |date=22 April 2008 }} Sunday Herald, 9 July 2000</ref> having taken over the command from [[Robin Jackson|Robin "the Jackal" Jackson]] in the early 1990s upon the latter's retirement. In October 1994, the UVF and other [[Ulster loyalism|loyalist]] paramilitary groups called a [[ceasefire]]. 

Internal differences between Wright and the UVF's Brigade Staff in [[Belfast]] came to a head in July 1996, during the [[Drumcree conflict|Drumcree parade dispute]]. The [[Orange Order]] was being stopped from marching through the [[Irish Catholic|Catholic]] Garvaghy area of [[Portadown]]. There was a standoff at [[Drumcree Church]] between thousands of Orangemen and their supporters on one side, and the security forces on the other. Wright was angered that the march was being blocked, and was often seen at Drumcree with [[Harold Gracey]], head of the Portadown Orange Lodge.<ref name="Susan McKay">McKay, Susan. ''[http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/people/accounts/mckay00.htm Northern Protestants: An Unsettled People - Portadown] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101207075749/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/people/accounts/mckay00.htm |date=7 December 2010 }}''. Blackstaff Press (2000).</ref>

Wright's brigade smuggled homemade weaponry to Drumcree, apparently unhindered by the Orangemen.<ref name="Susan McKay"/> On 7 July, a day into the standoff, members of Wright's brigade<ref name="Susan McKay"/><ref name="McGoldrick">[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1418234/Murder-was-present-for-terror-leader.html "Murder was 'present' for terror leader"] ''The Telegraph'', 8 January 2003. Retrieved 24 July 2009</ref> shot dead Catholic taxi driver Michael McGoldrick near [[Aghagallon]]. The man who killed McGoldrick said he had also planned, along with Billy Wright and [[Mark Fulton (loyalist)|Mark Fulton]], to kidnap three [[Priesthood (Catholic Church)|priests]] from a [[rectory|parochial house]] in County Armagh and shoot them unless the march was allowed to continue.<ref name="nelsonreport">[http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/hc1012/hc09/0947/0947.pdf ''The Rosemary Nelson Inquiry Report''] (23 May 2011), p.76</ref> Allegedly, the brigade also planned to drive [[Tank truck|petrol tankers]] into the Catholic area and blow them up.<ref>Coogan, Tim. ''The Troubles: Ireland's Ordeal 1966-1995 and the Search for Peace''. Palgrave Macmillan, 2002. Page 517.</ref> After four days of loyalist protests and violence throughout Northern Ireland, the police reversed their decision and allowed the march to continue.

For breaking the ceasefire,<ref name="mult"/> Wright and the Portadown unit of the Mid-Ulster Brigade were "stood down" by the UVF leadership on 2 August 1996.<ref name="UVF leadership">[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uvf-disbands-unit-linked-to-taxi-murder-1307867.html "UVF disbands unit linked to taxi murder"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303214334/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uvf-disbands-unit-linked-to-taxi-murder-1307867.html |date=3 March 2016 }} ''The Independent'', 3 August 1996. Retrieved 18 October 2009</ref> 

Wright and his unit left the UVF and formed the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF). He personally chose its codename of "Covenant", which was used to claim LVF attacks.<ref name="brucepaper">[http://www.irish-association.org/papers/stevebruce11_oct03.asp "Religion and Violence: the Case of Paisley and Ulster Evangelicals". ''The Irish Association'', Paper presented by Steve Bruce''. UK: University of Aberdeen. 11 October 2003] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324135540/http://www.irish-association.org/papers/stevebruce11_oct03.asp |date=24 March 2012 }}. Retrieved 25 June 2012</ref>
   
Although behind many attacks in the Mid-Ulster area, especially in Portadown and Lurgan, Wright was arrested in January 1997 on charges of issuing death threats and perverting the course of justice. He was convicted in March 1997 and sentenced to eight years in the [[Maze (HM Prison)|Maze Prison]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news|title=Scottish News - The Scotsman|website=www.scotsman.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.itv.com/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402162422/http://www.u.tv/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=80286&pt=n|url-status=dead|title=ITV Hub|archive-date=2 April 2015|website=ITV Hub}}</ref> There he demanded a separate wing for LVF prisoners. The authorities agreed and the wing became a gathering point for loyalists opposed to the [[Northern Ireland peace process]], including many men from [[Belfast]] and north [[County Down|Down]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Taylor | first = Peter | author-link = Peter Taylor (Journalist) | title = Loyalists | publisher = [[Bloomsbury Publishing]] | year = 1999 | pages = 244 | isbn = 0-7475-4519-7}}</ref>