Events on December 27 in history

Protestant paramilitary leader Billy Wright is assassinated in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.

Northern Ireland (Irish: Tuaisceart ireann [tuct en] (listen); Ulster-Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares a border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. In 2021, its population was 1,903,100, making up about 27% of Ireland's population and about 3% of the UK's population. The Northern Ireland Assembly (colloquially referred to as Stormont after its location), established by the Northern Ireland Act 1998, holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, while other areas are reserved for the UK Government. Northern Ireland cooperates with the Republic of Ireland in several areas.Northern Ireland was created in 1921, when Ireland was partitioned by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, creating a devolved government for the six northeastern counties. As was intended, Northern Ireland had a unionist majority, who wanted to remain in the United Kingdom; they were generally the Protestant descendants of colonists from Britain. Meanwhile, the majority in Southern Ireland (which became the Irish Free State in 1922), and a significant minority in Northern Ireland, were Irish nationalists and Catholics who wanted a united independent Ireland. Today, the former generally see themselves as British and the latter generally see themselves as Irish, while a Northern Irish or Ulster identity is claimed by a significant minority from all backgrounds.The creation of Northern Ireland was accompanied by violence both in defence of and against partition. During the conflict of 192022, the capital Belfast saw major communal violence, mainly between Protestant unionist and Catholic nationalist civilians. More than 500 were killed and more than 10,000 became refugees, mostly Catholics. For the next fifty years, Northern Ireland had an unbroken series of Unionist Party governments. There was informal mutual segregation by both communities, and the Unionist governments were accused of discrimination against the Irish nationalist and Catholic minority. In the late 1960s, a campaign to end discrimination against Catholics and nationalists was opposed by loyalists, who saw it as a republican front. This unrest sparked the Troubles, a thirty-year conflict involving republican and loyalist paramilitaries and state forces, which claimed over 3,500 lives and injured 50,000 others. The 1998 Good Friday Agreement was a major step in the peace process, including paramilitary disarmament and security normalisation, although sectarianism and segregation remain major social problems, and sporadic violence has continued.The economy of Northern Ireland was the most industrialised in Ireland at the time of Partition of Ireland, but declined, a decline exacerbated by the political and social turmoil of the Troubles. Its economy has grown significantly since the late 1990s. The initial growth came from the "peace dividend" and increased trade with the Republic of Ireland, continuing with a significant increase in tourism, investment, and business from around the world. Unemployment in Northern Ireland peaked at 17.2% in 1986, dropping to 6.1% for JuneAugust 2014 and down by 1.2 percentage points over the year, similar to the UK figure of 6.2%.Cultural links between Northern Ireland, the rest of Ireland, and the rest of the UK are complex, with Northern Ireland sharing both the culture of Ireland and the culture of the United Kingdom. In many sports, the island of Ireland fields a single team, with the Northern Ireland national football team being an exception to this. Northern Ireland competes separately at the Commonwealth Games, and people from Northern Ireland may compete for either Great Britain or Ireland at the Olympic Games.

Billy "King Rat" Wright (7 July 1960 – 27 December 1997) was an Ulster loyalist paramilitary leader during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. He joined the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) in his hometown of Portadown around 1975. After spending several years in prison, he became a born again Christian preacher. Wright resumed his UVF activities around 1986 and became commander of its Mid-Ulster Brigade in the early 1990s, taking over from Robin "the Jackal" Jackson. According to the Royal Ulster Constabulary, Wright was involved in the sectarian killings of up to 20 Catholics, although he was never convicted for any. It has been alleged that Wright, like his predecessor, was working with RUC Special Branch.Wright drew media attention during the Drumcree standoffs of 1995 and 1996, when he supported the Protestant Orange Order in its bid to march its traditional route through the Catholic area of Portadown. In 1994, the UVF and other paramilitary groups had called ceasefires. However, during the July 1996 Drumcree crisis, Wright's unit carried out several attacks, including a sectarian killing. Wright became a staunch opponent of the Northern Ireland peace process, seeing it as a sell-out to Irish nationalists and republicans. For breaking the ceasefire, Wright and his Portadown unit were stood down by the UVF leadership. He was expelled from the UVF and threatened with execution if he did not leave Northern Ireland. Wright ignored the threats and, along with many of his followers, defiantly formed the breakaway Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), becoming its leader. The group carried out a string of killings of Catholic civilians.

In January 1997 he was arrested for making death threats against a woman, and that March was convicted and sent to the Maze Prison. While imprisoned, Wright continued to direct the LVF's activities. In December that year, he was assassinated inside the prison by Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) prisoners. The LVF carried out a wave of sectarian attacks in retaliation. There was speculation that the authorities colluded in his killing as he was a threat to the peace process. An inquiry found no evidence of this, but concluded there were serious failings by the prison authorities.

Owing to his uncompromising stance as an upholder of Ulster loyalism and opposition to the peace process, Wright is a cult hero, icon, and martyr for hardline loyalists. His image adorned murals in loyalist housing estates and many of his devotees have tattoos bearing his likeness. He was also a figure who struck fear into the local Catholic community.