A hardline loyalist who led calls to unleash sectarian mayhem in Ulster is
set to join the DUP - and paramilitary supporters may follow his lead.
Convicted rioter Mark Harbinson, who was involved in a vicious attack on
police at Drumcree, has declared himself a firm ally of UUP rebel Jeffrey
Donaldson, who jumped ship to the DUP earlier this month.
Harbinson, a member of Stoneyford Orange Lodge, has in the past talked
himself up as a leader of the self-styled Ulster Protestant Grand
Committee.
He and pals swanned around Northern Ireland trying to mop up support for
their militant cause.
But now he's turning his attentions to Paisley's party since it has emerged
as the hardline front runner in unionism.
Loyalist sources revealed: "Mark Harbinson is going to join the DUP as it
is now the biggest single platform for the loyalist argument."
The sources added that the move was already a talking point among
paramilitary-minded loyalists in Co Antrim who have not previously aligned
themselves with any individual party.
"We're talking about a lot of people," we were told. "The lead's there and
Mark's encouraging people to follow him."
The DUP does not automatically bar membership to people who have criminal
convictions.
"Everything is taken on its individual merits," one party source said last
night (Saturday).
"Mark Harbinson is not a member of this party but if an application is
received it will be looked at like any other."
In 2002 he appealed for 50,000 loyalists to swamp Drumcree - and stay in
the field for the summer if they didn't get parading down Garvaghy Road.
He said: "Drumcree is Ulster's Alamo. It is our last stand for civil and
religious liberty."
Four years ago files on around 400 republican suspects were allegedly found
at Stoneyford Orange Lodge, where he is a key member.
That information had been taken from computers at the Army's Northern
Ireland HQ in nearby Lisburn.
Harbinson, 35, has insisted that no files were actually found and that the
whole episode was a manufactured attempt to 'blacken' his name.
He had been arrested and quizzed by police about the find and he was later
released without charge.
In 2002 he was one of four Orangemen who pleaded guilty to rioting at
Drumcree.
They were freed at the crown court by a judge who described the riot as "an
outrageous episode" which left 32 officers injured, including five
seriously.
Harbinson received a 12-month suspended jail term.
