Raymond Irvine McCord was born on 23 December 1953 and is a victim's rights campaigner from Northern Ireland.
29 Facts About Raymond McCord
1.
2.
Raymond McCord's family lived at 17 Grove Street until he was two when they moved to a new house in the recently built Rathcoole estate in Newtownabbey.
3.
Raymond McCord left Northern Ireland some time after to go to the US, returning in 1995.
4.
Raymond McCord joined the Royal Air Force in his teens, serving as a radar operator.
5.
Raymond McCord left the RAF after four years and returned home to Northern Ireland, where he joined the UVF.
6.
Raymond McCord senior believed this was to offer his family protection from the Ulster Defence Association due to the Raymond McCord family's previous trouble with the UDA.
7.
Raymond McCord junior was attached to the Mount Vernon unit of the UVF and was under the command of Mark Haddock.
8.
Mostly involved in drug running operations, Raymond McCord junior was caught with a haul of cannabis and arrested.
9.
Raymond McCord was buried in Carnmoney Cemetery in Newtownabbey on 14 November 1997.
10.
The UDA South East Antrim Brigade issued a statement acknowledging the history it had with Raymond McCord but denied any involvement in his son's death.
11.
Raymond McCord discovered that Haddock's status as an informer meant he wasn't questioned or linked to the killing of his son.
12.
Raymond McCord stated that he took the decision after Jeffrey Donaldson condemned him in a television interview after the publication of the O'Loan Report, questioning why Raymond McCord did not report his son to the police for being a UVF member.
13.
Raymond McCord's manifesto was co-written by Mark Langhammer, with the two being old friends.
14.
In 2008 Raymond McCord made history by becoming the first Unionist to address the annual Sinn Fein Ard Fheis.
15.
Sinn Fein previously in 2007 had organised a trip for Raymond McCord to attend the European Parliament in Strasbourg to address a meeting of MEP's regarding the issue of collusion in Northern Ireland.
16.
Raymond McCord had met Gerry Adams on the Falls Road around this time.
17.
Raymond McCord was again an independent candidate for North Belfast in the 2011 assembly elections.
18.
Raymond McCord was an unsuccessful candidate for Belfast City Council in the concurrent local elections, running in the Court District Electoral Area.
19.
In December 2013 Raymond McCord was with anti-drugs campaigner Tracey Coulter, daughter of Jackie Coulter when Mo Courtney, a leading figure in the UDA West Belfast Brigade and a strong opponent of Tracey Coulter, approached them and verbally abused them, allegedly threatening to kill both Raymond McCord and Coulter.
20.
In November 2014 Raymond McCord announced his intention to stand for parliament in the 2015 general election.
21.
Raymond McCord declared that he would run against the DUP's Nigel Dodds in North Belfast, claiming that the DUP had "let victims down".
22.
An opponent of plans for the UK to leave the European Union Raymond McCord, who argued that the move would jeopardise stability in Northern Ireland and hit funding for post-Troubles projects, launched a legal challenge against the proposed move in the aftermath of the referendum.
23.
Raymond McCord announced his intention to vote for Nichola Mallon of the SDLP in the 2017 Assembly Elections.
24.
Raymond McCord revealed plans to canvass for People Before Profit in Derry and spoke of his support for Eamonn McCann.
25.
Raymond McCord was the second child of Hector and Kathleen Raymond McCord, his sister Jean being seven years older than him.
26.
Raymond McCord states that, whilst his father was a member of the Orange Order, the Apprentice Boys of Derry and the Royal Black Institution, he maintained close friendships with his Catholic neighbours in the New Lodge area and, before the advent of the Troubles, regularly drank in the pubs there.
27.
Hector Raymond McCord died in 1994 aged 70 whilst Kathleen Raymond McCord was still alive as of 2008.
28.
Raymond McCord met his wife Vivienne, who lived in Rathcoole, when he was 15.
29.
Raymond McCord was given a sentence of 18 months imprisonment, suspended for three years.