Jimmy Birch became Brigadier in 2005, after the flamboyant Jim Gray was expelled from the organisation for "treason".
10 Facts About Jimmy Birch
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Jimmy Birch initially opposed decommissioning and had reportedly told a meeting of East Belfast UDA members that their weapons would not be handed in.
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Subsequently Jimmy Birch revised his position and a cache of East Belfast Brigade weapons were given up for decommissioning.
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Jimmy Birch was critical of the Belfast City Hall flag protests when Ulster loyalist protesters caused widespread disruption after the temporary removal of the Union flag from Belfast City Hall.
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Jimmy Birch stated that the vote had been part of a democratic process and claimed that loyalist rioters were allowing themselves to be "played" by Sinn Fein.
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Jimmy Birch is a close friend of Sam "Chalky" White, a DUP activist in east Belfast and former UDA prisoner.
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Jimmy Birch was in attendance as an Ulster Political Research Group representative at the inaugural meeting of the Unionist Forum, a task force established by Peter Robinson and Mike Nesbitt in the aftermath of the City Hall flag vote.
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Jimmy Birch sits on the board of the east Belfast charity Charter NI.
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Jimmy Birch has been associated with the mainstream tendency within the UDA and has maintained close relations with fellow brigadiers Jackie McDonald, Billy McFarland and John Bunting.
10.
Individually Jimmy Birch had a long-standing disagreement with his opposite number in West Belfast, Matt Kincaid, over allegations relating to the theft of weapons by West Belfast Brigade members from an East Belfast Brigade cache.