Prothonotary Warbler

by | Feb 22, 2018 | Warblers

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Gerard Davison (c. September 1967 – 5 May 2015) was a commander[1] of the Provisional IRA. He was shot and killed on 5 May 2015.[2] One of the first operations he was involved in was shooting dead of IPLO Belfast Brigade commander Sammy Ward during the same Night of the Long Knives in Belfast.[3] [4]

Davison was questioned about the murder of Robert McCartney in January 2005. He was released without charge.[5][6][7] Davison was one of a number of Provisional IRA members to be expelled from the organisation in relation to the murder.[7] Davison had been a community worker in the working class Markets area of Belfast.[6]

Death

On 5 May 2015 around 09:00, Davison was shot numerous times at the junction of Lower Stanfield Street and Welsh Street in the Markets area of south Belfast.[2][5][8] While police did not identify who killed him,[2] Kevin McGuigan, a former subordinate of Davison's within both the Provisional IRA and Direct Action Against Drugs, was named as the chief suspect after he was also shot dead, reportedly by members of the Provisional IRA, on 12 August 2015.[9][10] Davidson and McGuigan fell out after Davison had ordered his punishment shooting, following a violent dispute between him and a veteran republican's family, in the early 2000s.[10][11]

On the evening of the killing, The Guardian’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.”[12]

Following his arrest in Fuengirola in August 2021, it was revealed Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch was to be questioned in relation to a weapon used in Davison's murder.[13]

References

  1. ^ Morris, Allison (23 September 2019). "PSNI 'had information about a gun' two weeks before Gerard 'Jock' Davison murder". The Irish News. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  2. ^ a b c "Belfast shooting: Ex-IRA man Gerard 'Jock' Davison shot dead". BBC News. 5 May 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  3. ^ Allen, Tony. "Hitman shot Gerard 'Jock' Davison four times in the face - then walked away calmly". Belfasttelegraph. Sunday Life. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  4. ^ Gibson, Paul (20 April 2018). The Lost Soul of Eamonn Magee. Mercier Press. ISBN 9781781175736. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Former IRA leader Gerard 'Jock' Davison shot dead in south Belfast". Belfasttelegraph. Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  6. ^ a b "Belfast murder: Who was ex-IRA man 'Jock' Davison?". BBC News. 5 May 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  7. ^ a b Morris, Allison (6 May 2015). "Police must act quickly on Davison murder". The Irish News. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  8. ^ "Hitman shot Gerard 'Jock' Davison four times in the face - then walked away calmly". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. 11 May 2015. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  9. ^ "Jock Davison murder suspect Kevin McGuigan Sr shot dead". The Irish News. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  10. ^ a b McDonald, Henry (12 September 2015). "Death of an assassin: how the killing of Kevin McGuigan reawakened Belfast's political strife". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  11. ^ "'This is payback for Jock Davison' - IRA hitman Kevin McGuigan killed in a hail of bullets at his Belfast home". Irish Independent. 13 August 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  12. ^ McDonald, Henry (5 May 2015). "Belfast police raid home in connection with killing of Gerard 'Jock' Davison". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  13. ^ "Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch facing quiz over gun used to kill IRA leader Gerard 'Jock' Davison following arrest in Spain". belfasttelegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 18 August 2021.

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