Gerard Davison (c. 1967 – 5 May 2015) was a commander of the

Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reunif ...

. He was shot and killed on 5 May 2015. One of the first operations he was involved in was shooting dead IPLO Belfast Brigade commander

Sammy Ward Samuel Ward (c. 1963 – 31 October 1992) was the leader of the Irish People's Liberation Organisation, Irish People's Liberation Organisation's Belfast Brigade. The IPLO was made up of ex-members of the Irish National Liberation Army. Followi ...

during the same Night of the Long Knives in Belfast. Davison was questioned about the murder of Robert McCartney in January 2005. He was released without charge. Davison had been a community worker in the working class Markets area of Belfast.

Death

On 5 May 2015 around 09:00, Davison was shot numerous times at Welsh Street in the Markets area of south Belfast. While police do not know who killed him,

Kevin McGuigan Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant '' Kevan'' is anglicized from , a ...

, a former subordinate of Davison's, was named as the chief suspect after he was also shot dead, reportedly by members of the Provisional IRA, on 12 August 2015. On the evening of the killing, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

''’s Henry McDonald reported: “Davison is the most senior pro-peace process republican to have been killed since the IRA ceasefire of 1997. Security sources said it was highly unlikely that any Ulster loyalist group was behind the murders, adding that the killers may instead have come from within the nationalist community, possibly from people who had a longstanding grudge against the victim.” Following his arrest in

Fuengirola Fuengirola (), in ancient times known as Suel and then Suhayl, is a large town and municipality on the Costa del Sol in the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. It is located on the central coast of the pr ...

in August 2021, it was revealed Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch was to be questioned in relation to a weapon used in Davison's murder.

References

External links

*http://sluggerotoole.com/2015/08/25/tanaiste-this-is-an-insidious-threat-to-northern-irelands-future-as-a-healthy-stable-democracy-and-therefore-a-threat-to-the-whole-of-this-island/ *http://sluggerotoole.com/2015/08/22/members-of-pira-carried-out-their-own-investigation-into-the-davison-killing/ *http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/provisional-ira-may-have-left-stage-but-not-theatre-1.2324978 *http://www.rte.ie/news/2015/0820/722541-kevin-mcguigan-belfast/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Davison, Gerard 1960s births 2015 deaths 2015 in Northern Ireland 2015 murders in the United Kingdom Deaths by firearm in Northern Ireland Paramilitaries from Belfast People murdered in Belfast Provisional Irish Republican Army members Unsolved murders in the United Kingdom