Billy McFarland

Billy McFarland
Birth name	William McFarland
Allegiance	Ulster Defence Association (UDA)
Rank	Brigadier
Unit	North Antrim and Londonderry Brigade
Conflict	The Troubles

William "Billy" McFarland, also known as "the Mexican", is a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary. A leading figure in the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), he has served as head of the North Antrim and Londonderry Brigade of the group.

McFarland joined the UDA in the 1970s and for a time was active in a series of bomb attacks on Catholic-owned businesses in the North Antrim and County Londonderry area, activities for which he was eventually imprisoned. Around this time he was given the nickname "the Mexican" on account of his swarthy appearance and his thick moustache.

Following his release from prison, McFarland, who also maintained legitimate business interests in the construction industry, was appointed brigadier for the North Antrim and Londonderry area, a brigade that was only sporadically active compared to those in Belfast. McFarland's brigade published its own magazine, Warrior, that spoke out against gangsterism and drug dealing and which also invited readers to send in their own ideas for the future of Northern Ireland which the magazine would then publish, something of a departure for the usually dogmatic UDA. In 1996, following the end of the IRA ceasefire, McFarland announced through the pages of Warrior his conversion to the Ulster nationalism previously advocated by the late South Belfast brigadier John McMichael. He called for the United Kingdom to be radically altered into a "British family of nations" in which Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England would all become fully self-governing and only loosely linked. Acknowledging that his independent "Ulster" would face the problem of an "Irish minority" McFarland argued that those who did not accept the new arrangement would be expected to move to the Republic of Ireland.

...
Wikipedia