Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
The UVF claimed the killing was a retaliation for an unsuccessful IRA bomb attack on Billy Wright, the leader of the Mid-Ulster UVF. Despite this link to the Mid-Ulster unit, the logistics of the shipyard shooting—located in Belfast—typically involved the local Belfast Brigade.
At the time, Billy Wright was the commander of the UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade. In early 1994, he survived an IRA boobytrap car bomb with only minor injuries. O'Kane's murder was one of several sectarian attacks carried out by loyalists during this volatile period leading up to the August and October 1994 ceasefires.
The UVF claimed the killing was a retaliation for an unsuccessful IRA bomb attack on Billy Wright, the leader of the Mid-Ulster UVF. Despite this link to the Mid-Ulster unit, the logistics of the shipyard shooting—located in Belfast—typically involved the local Belfast Brigade.
At the time, Billy Wright was the commander of the UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade. In early 1994, he survived an IRA boobytrap car bomb with only minor injuries. O'Kane's murder was one of several sectarian attacks carried out by loyalists during this volatile period leading up to the August and October 1994 ceasefires.
