Tommy Kirkham - Split and Beyond Conflict

Split and Beyond Conflict

Kirkham eventually split from the UPRG and made his power base in South East Antrim with one of the UDA's six brigades, the South East Antrim Brigade where the UDA had drifted from the leadership. Kirkham became head of a new group which he called Beyond Conflict and, as leader of this group, asked for £8 million of government money in order to transform the group into a development agency. However whilst the government did eventually pledge money to the UPRG no funding was extended to Kirkham's group.

Kirkham's split from the mainstream of the UPRG and UDA would be widened in 2007. The UDA faced a potential feud over the activities of renegade brigadier Andre Shoukri, who was, ironically given Kirkham's previous position, an associate of dissident Johnny Adair, until the movement expelled him in 2007. Kirkham however, as leader of the south-east Antrim brigade of the UDA, supported Shoukri in his struggles with the UDA leadership and a stand-off between Kirkham and the leaders developed. This came to a head in March 2007 when the expulsion was extended to Kirkham and his associated Gary Fisher. Kirkham reacted to the move by vowing to remain in his area. Later that same year Kirkham's assistant Jon McDowell outed himself as a Special Branch agent.

Kirkham remains as head of Beyond Conflict and has argued that the group has undertaken eight steps towards demilitarisation, including ending paramilitary activity in his area, working with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning and working on cultural diversity programmes.

In December 2010 Kirkham gave evidence at a historical murder trial of a Catholic killed in Belfast in 1973. Kirkham was threatened with arrest if he did not appear at the trial.