He has been linked to numerous bomb attacks south of the border in 1970s, including an explosion at Dublin airport in November 1975 that claimed the life of baggage handler John Hayes.<\/a><\/p>\nHis 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.<\/p>\n
Largely forgotten, the Dublin Airport explosion was overshadowed by the May 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bomb attacks, which claimed the lives of 33 people.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s Bar, Ballyhegan, near Portadown, earlier that month.<\/p>\n
![\"John](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/66KXGR3RPJE43O5OX3O7NPZTBM.jpg\")
John Hayes was killed in November 1975 <\/p>\n
The Irish News revealed last month that in a briefing to the family of John Hayes, Stewart Young was described as a UVF \u201ccommander\u201d linked to murders and robberies.<\/p>\n
It was claimed that he was a founding member of the loyalist group\u2019s Mid Ulster unit in 1973 and that he had close associations with the organisation in Belfast. <\/p>\n
It is claimed Stewart Young was in overall charge \u201cof the Mid Ulster UVF companies\u201d and \u201call operations\u201d carried out were \u201csanctioned\u201d by him and that he would then report to the UVF in Belfast.<\/p>\n
In their briefing to the McKearney family, Kenova investigators confirm Stewart Young would have given the go-ahead for the double murder.<\/p>\n
A note of the Operation Denton briefing reveals that \u201cthose involved went to Stewart Young to get permission \u2013 there would have to be \u2018justification\u2019 for the attack \u2013 they would have to say they (the McKearneys) were legitimate targets\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cStewart Young would authorise every attack and was answerable to Belfast,\u201d the note states.<\/p>\n
\u201cStewart Young was ultimately responsible for the attack.\u201d<\/p>\n
Investigators confirm Young was only ever convicted of a motoring offence.<\/p>\n
He initially joined the UVF as a battalion commander and was responsible for directing \u201call actions\u201d in Mid Ulster, where he remained until 1978.<\/p>\n
He later moved to Scotland after an attempt on his life.<\/p>\n
Before joining the UVF, Stewart Young and his brother Ivor were members of the UDA.<\/p>\n
In 1972, Ivor was described as a UDA commander in Portadown and linked to murders and other attacks.<\/p>\n
He was previously described as a \u201ccold blooded killer and vicious individual\u201d.<\/p>\n
Interned in 1974, he later transferred allegiance to the UVF.<\/p>\n
In their briefing to the McKearney family, Kenova investigators say Ivor Young took 60 UDA members \u201cwith him when he joined the UVF \u2013 he had a falling out with the UDA\u201d.<\/p>\n
A former member of the British army\u2019s Royal Ulster Rifles, he was discharged for gross misconduct in 1963.<\/p>\n
In a note of a briefing to the McKearney family by Operation Kenova, they say the UVF was formed in Belfast in 1966.<\/p>\n
The organisation initially had two companies in Mid Ulster and was \u201cbased along British army lines\u201d.<\/p>\n
The note states that \u201cBelfast always the head of the UVF\u201d and that its Mid Ulster unit \u201chad to report to Belfast\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cStewart Young was in overall control of MUUVF\u201d (Mid Ulster UVF), which had two groups in Portadown and two in nearby Lurgan, both in Co Armagh.<\/p>\n
The note reveals that Mid Ulster also had a \u201cgroup\u201d in the Moy area and another in Moygashel, which are both in Co Tyrone.<\/p>\n
Kenova officials say the murder of the McKearneys was \u201ca cross-company attack involving Lurgan, Moygashel and Moy\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Irish News has recently reported on how the UVF was locked in a bitter takeover in 1975.<\/p>\n
According to Operation Denton officials, a Belfast Brigade meeting was interrupted by two individuals \u201cin a coup against the then leadership\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe interventionists sought to stand down all brigade staff on the basis of the rampant sectarian attacks by the UVF on the nationalist community,\u201d Denton officials told the Hayes family. <\/p>\n
One of those behind the \u2018coup\u2019 established himself as the new \u2018chief of staff\u2019 of the UVF and \u201cbrought in friends as brigade staff\u201d.<\/p>\n
In the recent briefing with the McKearney family, Kenova investigators said the killing of their parents played a part in the power struggle.<\/p>\n
\u201cSept \u201975 \u2013 UVF members became opposed to the UVF leadership in Belfast,\u201d the McKearney briefing note states.<\/p>\n
\u201cOct \u201975 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\u201d.<\/p>\n
Denton officials say the British army described the period between October 1974 and October 1975 as \u201cthe year of madness\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cOct \u201974 \u2013 Oct \u201975 \u2013 UVF wanted to kill as many Catholics as possible to cause as much sectarian strife as possible,\u201d the note adds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The double murder of an innocent Catholic couple 50 years ago has been linked to a leadership challenge…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":142022,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[41],"tags":[9,10,13,14,6,11,12,15,16,5,7,8,19646,65,66,67],"class_list":["post-142021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-headlines","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-uvf","tag-world","tag-world-news","tag-worldnews"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115427350001038849","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Northern](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/D5PKFR4JHJHX3AMRWMD4CLGZDE.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"UVF](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/TH5Z4P237JGENC2IGIFENBORGY.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Peter](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/TXKFGQITDVKHPHF74P2VDJURR4.jpg\")
Peter and Jane McKearney, murdered by the UVF in Co Tyrone in 1975 <\/p>\n