Nineteen people died in the North as a result of sectarian or paramilitary activity in 2001. All the main loyalist and republican groupings were implicated, with loyalists responsible for most of the deaths, writes Gerry Moriarty, Northern Editor
Last year much of the political focus was on achieving IRA decommissioning which, quite reasonably, could lead one to believe that most of the violence of the year 2001 was perpetrated by republicans. That was far from the case.
The IRA indeed was involved in violence, including suspected murder, but most of the killings were carried out by loyalist paramilitaries.
There were 19 Troubles-related deaths in 2001. Loyalist groupings were responsible for 13, while republicans killed four.
The UDA in particular flexed its muscles last year, to such an extent that the Northern Secretary, Dr John Reid, felt he had no option but to declare that the UDA ceasefire dating back to October 1994 was a sham.
During 2001 the paramilitary groupings at least paid lip service to their declared ceasefires. While the UDA was involved in many killings it tried to cover its tracks by using the Red Hand Defenders cover name in some of its acts.
In a number of cases there was also some blurring of the edges as to whether certain murders were carried out by the UDA or by the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) or both, operating in a loose ad-hoc coalition and using the Red Hand Defenders guise.
The IRA and the INLA were blamed for four killings, two by each grouping. The IRA, possibly under the cover of Direct Action Against Drugs (DAAD), killed Paul Daly from Knockbracken in south Belfast in front of his wife and 13-year-old daughter in May.
He is believed to have been involved in drug-dealing, as was Christopher O'Kane (37), who was shot dead near his home in the Waterside in Derry in April. Again the IRA is believed responsible, although there was no admission in either case.
Another leading drugs figure in Northern Ireland, Frankie Mulholland, was shot dead in December. The Red Hand Defenders admitted the killing, but the UDA is seen as the main suspect.
Security sources believe that the INLA, which in its New Year message reasserted that it was on ceasefire, killed Charles Folliard in Strabane in October as he was visiting his Catholic girlfriend.
In December Derek Lenehan (27), from Dublin, bled to death after he was tied and shot in both legs at Forkhill, in Co Armagh. Another man survived. The INLA is understood to have carried out the shootings.
The first victim of 2001 was 37-year-old George Legge, who was reputed to be heavily involved in the drugs trade. A UDA member, his decapitated body was found in a field in south Belfast on January 6th last year.
The UDA was also linked to the death of 49-year-old Trevor Lowry, who was attacked and badly beaten in Glengormley in north Belfast in April. He was a Protestant, but it is understood that his assailants mistook him for a Catholic.
In June John McCormick, a 26-year-old Catholic from Coleraine, Co Derry, was shot dead in front of his four children. He had been advised about his personal safety two days before his murder, and again loyalist paramilitaries were blamed.
In July the Red Hand Defenders killed two people, one a Catholic and the second a Protestant it thought was a Catholic. On July 4th 19-year-old Catholic Ciaran Cummings from Antrim was shot dead at Greystone roundabout as he was waiting for a lift to work.
At the end of July 18-year-old Gavin Brett, a Protestant from Glengormley, was gunned down as he stood chatting with a group of mostly Catholic friends. While the Red Hand Defenders claimed the murders the chief suspects were UDA members.
The Red Hand Defenders claimed its most high-profile victim in September. Martin O'Hagan, a Sunday World journalist, who spent much of his career exposing the sectarianism and drug dealing of loyalist paramilitaries, was shot dead as he was walking towards his home with his wife.
In this case it is believed that the real culprit was the LVF, whose operations Mr O'Hagan had regularly highlighted.
Another highly publicised murder was that of former UDA quartermaster and RUC Special Branch informer, William Stobie. He believed he had been given UDA clearance to remain in Northern Ireland.
The still running LVF-UVF dispute claimed two victims. Adrian Porter, aged 34, was shot in a house in Breezemount Park, Conlig, Co Down, on January 13th. One month later Graham Marks (37), from Tullyhugh, Tandragee, Co Armagh, who was said to have UVF connections, was shot dead after gunmen burst into his home.