Raymie Elder

Raymond Elder (c.1962 – 31 July 1994) was a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary and a prominent figure within the Ulster Defence Association's South Belfast Brigade. Suspected by security forces of playing a role in numerous killings, including the Sean Graham shooting, he was shot dead by the Irish Republican Army on the Ormeau Road in 1994.

A native of Belfast, Elder grew up in the Annadale Flats, an Ulster loyalist area in South Belfast close to the Ormeau Road. Although some individual districts in the Ormeau Road were divided along sectarian lines there were no peace lines, several mixed streets and the main road was frequented by both Protestants and Catholics. As such, Elder knew many Catholics and in his youth was involved in sectarian bullying and street fights before he graduated to UDA membership. He was nicknamed "Snowy" on account of his blond hair.

Elder was the right-hand man of Joe Bratty, the officer in command of the UDA's south Belfast Brigade during the early 1990s, a period of intense UDA activity. He was charged in relation to the Sean Graham shooting on the lower Ormeau Road in 1992. He had been identified as one of the gunmen by numerous witnesses. Elder was charged for his involvement in the attack although all charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence.

Elder was close personally to sometime UDA West Belfast Brigade leader Johnny Adair and sometimes partied with Adair's group of C Company associates at shebeens on the Shankill Road. Soon after the charges relating to the Sean Graham attack (which Adair had helped to plan) were dropped, Elder accompanied Adair to a UDA ceremony in Scotland where the West Belfast leader presented Elder with a gold ring inscribed with the letters "UFF" as a memento of the attack.

Elder's unit, commanded by Joe Bratty, killed numerous Catholics in this period, including Michael Gilbride and Teresa Clinton, the wife of a local Sinn Féin councillor in the lower Ormeau district.

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