Samuel Ward (c. 1963 – 31 October 1992) was the leader of the Irish People's Liberation Organisation's

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

Brigade. The IPLO was formed in 1986 by disaffected and expelled members of the

Irish National Liberation Army The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA, ) is an Irish republicanism, Irish republican Socialism, socialist paramilitary group formed on 8 December 1974, during the 30-year period of conflict known as "the Troubles". The group seeks to remove ...

. Following its split from and feud with the INLA, the IPLO split into two factions: the 'Army Council' (led by Jimmy Brown) and the 'Belfast Brigade' (led by Ward). During its Halloween 1992 purge of the IPLO (dubbed the "Night of Long Knives"), the

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

shot and killed Ward while he was inside the Seán Martin

GAA Gaa may refer to: * Gaa language, a language of Nigeria * gaa, the ISO 639 code for the Ga language of Ghana GAA may stand for: Compounds * Glacial (water-free), acetic acid * Acid alpha-glucosidase, also known as glucosidase, alpha; acid, an e ...

club on Beechfield Street in the Short Strand area of Belfast. Following this large-scale operation by the Provisionals, both factions of the IPLO surrendered and disbanded.

References

Sources

*Henry McDonald, ''INLA - Deadly Divisions'', Paperback: 469 pages; Poolbeg Press Ltd (April 26, 2010); ; 1960s births 1992 deaths Date of birth missing Deaths by firearm in Northern Ireland Irish National Liberation Army members Irish People's Liberation Organisation Paramilitaries from Belfast People killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army {{NorthernIreland-bio-stub