Loyalist paramilitaries today fired a volley of shots as rival organisations gathered near Belfast for the huge funeral of murdered UDA boss John Gregg.
The UDA commander was being buried hours after relatives and friends of his bitter foe Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair were driven out of the city.
Among thousands of mourners were the four remaining UDA brigadiers who had fought alongside Gregg in a deadly turf war against Adair.
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Political representatives carry
John Gregg's coffin through the streets of Rathcoole today |
Top paramilitaries in the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Loyalist Volunteer Force also followed the coffin - which was draped in a UDA-affiliated Ulster Freedom Fighters flag - from Gregg's home in the Rathcoole Estate in a major show of solidarity.
Adair's humiliation appeared complete when men who had defected from his "C Company" unit turned up for the funeral.
The jailed loyalist's wife, their children and his closest ally, Mr John White, were among dozens who left their lower Shankill power base and boarded an overnight boat to Scotland.
Gregg, who led the UDA's Southeast Antrim brigade, was being buried in a Cloughfern Young Conquerors flute band uniform.