Jim Hanna (loyalist)
| Jim Hanna | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | James Andrew Hanna |
| Nickname(s) | Red Setter |
| Born | c. 1947 Lisburn, County Antrim, Northern Ireland |
| Died | 1 April 1974 (aged 26–27) (body found) Mansfield Street, Shankill Road, Belfast |
| Allegiance | UVF |
| Rank | Chief of Staff Colonel |
| Unit | Shankill Road UVF |
| Conflict | The Troubles |
James Andrew "Jim" Hanna, also known as Red Setter (c. 1947 – 1 April 1974), was a senior member of the Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary organisation, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) until he was shot dead by fellow members, for being an alleged informer. Journalists Joe Tiernan and Kevin Myers described him as having been the senior military leader of the UVF. Tiernan also suggested that he was part of a UVF unit that planted car bombs in Dublin in December 1972 and January 1973 which left three people dead and 145 injured. Tiernan claimed that Hanna was controlled by four British Army Intelligence Corps officers who frequently visited his home in Lisburn.
Hanna was born in Lisburn, County Antrim, Northern Ireland in about 1947, and was raised in the Protestant religion. Physically he was tall and red-haired, and possessed an outgoing, friendly personality. He lived in his native Lisburn where he worked as a self-employed plumbing and heating engineer. He joined the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) on an unknown date, although he had come to prominence in the gun battles that took place between the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and UVF that took place during the early 1970s at Springmartin Road (an interface marking the approximate boundary between the loyalist Highfield estate area of the Greater Shankill and the republican Ballymurphy/New Barnsley areas). Despite being from Lisburn Hanna was a member of the Shankill Road UVF. He moved up in the ranks to eventually become a senior member of the paramilitary organisation and one of its Brigade Staff. According to journalist Joe Tiernan, he was the "head of the UVF in Northern Ireland".Kevin Myers also maintained he was the senior military commander for the UVF.Martin Dillon in The Dirty War stated that he was the senior UVF commander in 1973. Jim Hanna was no relation to Billy Hanna of Lurgan, who formed the UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade in 1972 and appointed himself its first commander.
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