The double murder of an innocent Catholic couple 50 years ago has been linked to a leadership challenge in the UVF which saw several senior members of the organisation sidelined.
Husband and wife Peter (63) and Jane McKearney (58) died after loyalist gunmen burst into their home near Moy, Co Tyrone, on October 23, 1975, and sprayed them with automatic gunfire.
Fresh information about the activities of the gang have now emerged as part of an Operation Denton review.
In recent months Kenova officials have briefed some families about the deaths of their loved ones, including the surviving children of Peter and Jane McKearney.
Peter and Jane McKearney, murdered by the UVF in Co Tyrone in 1975
His brother, Ivor Young, has also been highlighted as a significant figure in the Mid Ulster unit and has also been connected to the Dublin Airport attack.
Largely forgotten, the Dublin Airport explosion was overshadowed by the May 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bomb attacks, which claimed the lives of 33 people.
The Young brothers have also been linked by Operation Denton officials to the murder of Margaret Hale (32) who died on September 22, 1975, after a gun and bomb attack on McCann’s Bar, Ballyhegan, near Portadown, earlier that month.
John Hayes was killed in November 1975
The Irish News revealed last month that in a briefing to the family of John Hayes, Stewart Young was described as a UVF “commander” linked to murders and robberies.
It was claimed that he was a founding member of the loyalist group’s Mid Ulster unit in 1973 and that he had close associations with the organisation in Belfast.
It is claimed Stewart Young was in overall charge “of the Mid Ulster UVF companies” and “all operations” carried out were “sanctioned” by him and that he would then report to the UVF in Belfast.
In their briefing to the McKearney family, Kenova investigators confirm Stewart Young would have given the go-ahead for the double murder.
A note of the Operation Denton briefing reveals that “those involved went to Stewart Young to get permission – there would have to be ‘justification’ for the attack – they would have to say they (the McKearneys) were legitimate targets”.
“Stewart Young would authorise every attack and was answerable to Belfast,” the note states.
“Stewart Young was ultimately responsible for the attack.”
Investigators confirm Young was only ever convicted of a motoring offence.
He initially joined the UVF as a battalion commander and was responsible for directing “all actions” in Mid Ulster, where he remained until 1978.
He later moved to Scotland after an attempt on his life.
Before joining the UVF, Stewart Young and his brother Ivor were members of the UDA.
In 1972, Ivor was described as a UDA commander in Portadown and linked to murders and other attacks.
He was previously described as a “cold blooded killer and vicious individual”.
Interned in 1974, he later transferred allegiance to the UVF.
In their briefing to the McKearney family, Kenova investigators say Ivor Young took 60 UDA members “with him when he joined the UVF – he had a falling out with the UDA”.
A former member of the British army’s Royal Ulster Rifles, he was discharged for gross misconduct in 1963.
In a note of a briefing to the McKearney family by Operation Kenova, they say the UVF was formed in Belfast in 1966.
The organisation initially had two companies in Mid Ulster and was “based along British army lines”.
The note states that “Belfast always the head of the UVF” and that its Mid Ulster unit “had to report to Belfast”.
“Stewart Young was in overall control of MUUVF” (Mid Ulster UVF), which had two groups in Portadown and two in nearby Lurgan, both in Co Armagh.
The note reveals that Mid Ulster also had a “group” in the Moy area and another in Moygashel, which are both in Co Tyrone.
Kenova officials say the murder of the McKearneys was “a cross-company attack involving Lurgan, Moygashel and Moy”.
The Irish News has recently reported on how the UVF was locked in a bitter takeover in 1975.
According to Operation Denton officials, a Belfast Brigade meeting was interrupted by two individuals “in a coup against the then leadership”.
“The interventionists sought to stand down all brigade staff on the basis of the rampant sectarian attacks by the UVF on the nationalist community,” Denton officials told the Hayes family.
One of those behind the ‘coup’ established himself as the new ‘chief of staff’ of the UVF and “brought in friends as brigade staff”.
In the recent briefing with the McKearney family, Kenova investigators said the killing of their parents played a part in the power struggle.
“Sept ’75 – UVF members became opposed to the UVF leadership in Belfast,” the McKearney briefing note states.
“Oct ’75 this is linked to the murder of the McKearneys and it looks like this has a moderating influence on the UVF leadership, which had changed in Belfast and was seen to be more moderate”.
Denton officials say the British army described the period between October 1974 and October 1975 as “the year of madness”.
“Oct ’74 – Oct ’75 – UVF wanted to kill as many Catholics as possible to cause as much sectarian strife as possible,” the note adds.