In an explosive interview former paramilitary boss Adair claims he wants to get involved with groups targeting immigration.
Feared former UDA paramilitary boss Johnny “ Mad Dog” Adair wants to make a return to frontline politics to target illegal immigrants.
The move follows a series of Daily Record reports on attempts by far right groups in Scotland to team up with paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland in a bid to exploit racial tensions.
Adair now lives in Troon, Ayrshire, after being linked to dozens of sectarian killings by the Belfast C Company of the UDA that he led.
However in an explosive interview Adair claims he wants to get involved with groups targeting immigration.
He said: “The threat that is coming is not republicanism the threat is illegal immigration.
“These people will rape, they will kill, they will steal and they have no common value of life.”
He said: “Would I go back and fight for them, yes I would absolutely.
“Would I use the experience that I used back in the conflict. Yes absolutely.
“People need to stand up and counted before it is too late.”
Speaking to Glasgow street photographer Brian Anderson for his Naked City youtube channel Adair says the only thing that brings back memories of his sectarian past is the day of Old Firm games
He added: ”The pit of your stomach will go. Thankfully it’s not bombs and guns but just banter.”
Adair says he is just an ordinary person now but feels he has been tarred with the “Mad Dog” label.
He added: ”That is a name and I hate it. I had no control over that.
“Away from that horrible name I am just Johnny Adair living a quiet and peaceful life, no hassle and it’s great and I love it.
“I have got a 15 year old son and he lives with me.
“Troon is a quiet seaside town and people just accept me for who I am.
“I am just grateful and happy that someone was looking over me because there were multiple attempts on on my life and I survived every one.
“Now I don’t have to worry about things like that albeit I still take some security precautions – like checking my car for a bomb”
Though Adair was feared during the Troubles by the Northern Ireland Catholic community, he admits in the same interview that some of his best pals growing up were Catholic.
He also reveals respect for the IRA hunger strikers of the early 1980’s.
Adair explained: “When I was a young boy under the age of ten my friends were Catholics, we lived in the same streets
“There was no such thing as a religion.
“It didn’t mean anything to me that your mate is a catholic or protestant.”
Adair said things began to change around 1969 and remembers houses in his street being set on fire
He added:” I learned later that day that the people that were burned down were Catholics and some of them were my friends.
“And the same happened in other areas that were predominantly Catholic, to Protestants.
“Then the army was sent for and it the just blew out after that.
“As a kid you were seeing things you had never seen before tanks on the street and soldiers with guns.
“It was interesting for a young boy but also scary and frightening.
“The trouble exploded throughout the province and almost every area was at war with one another. Catholic and Protestant.”
Adair said he decided to join the paramilitaries in the late 1970’s.
He quickly became a target for the police and recalls having his home searched during raids for guns and explosives and being held for questioning for up to seven days at a time.
Adair also recalled the time when he was the victim of an assassination attempt while attending a UB40 concert in Belfast in 1999 with his wife and narrowly escaped with his life.
He added:”I was just out of jail and UB40 was a band that I loved.
“They shot me at point blank range.
“I thought my head was going to explode.
“The pain for that second was the worst pain I have ever experienced.
“It went in but it didn’t go through the skull but just stopped there.
“I was lucky. Had it been a half decent weapon my brains would have been everywhere.”
Adair says the attack was not the work of rival republicans but local drug dealers who saw an opportunity to kill him.
He added: ”I was the devil over there, the bogeyman.
“All Catholics would have hated me.”
Adair says one of the gun gang was later shot dead by the IRA and the man who pulled the trigger took his own life.
He now welcomes the peace process and enjoys his new life in Scotland.
Adair added: ”Until my late 30s I was involved heavily in paramilitarism and loyalism.
“When the life that I was in came to an end and peace came to Northern Ireland there was no more explosions, it was golden to me.
“There was no more hatred, everyone just getting on with life over there.
“There is an uneasy peace but it is great for both communities.
“It’s a long process and will take years. cause there is a lot of bitterness and a lot of hatred.
“For me a normal a life that I never had for most of my years.”
When asked if he ever felt a “moral debt” for what happened “under his watch”, Adair replied.”It is regrettable that the whole conflict took place.
“But I am not feeling guilty for what that I’d done or the role that I played.
“If I was to stay that to you now I would be a hypocrite.
“At the time I believed it was right.
“It is just a shame that it went on for 30 years and all those people lost their lives and people were maimed and thousands of men went to prison.”
When then asked if had ever asked forgiveness from the other side he responded: ”Maybe some dedicated republicans who were engaged the way I would have been engaged will have had begrudging respect towards me as I would have towards the IRA hunger strikers.
“Do I think they would shake my hand and forgive me, I don’t think so.”
Hear the interview in full on https://www.youtube.com/@brianandersonnakedcity
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