Martin Snodden

Martin Snodden
Bornc. 1954
Belfast, Northern Ireland
OccupationsConflict resolution worker, community activist
Organization(s)EPIC
Conflict Trauma Resource Centre
Known forFormer Ulster Volunteer Force member; conflict transformation work

Martin Snodden (born c. 1954) is a Northern Irish conflict resolution worker and former loyalist paramilitary. During the Troubles, he was a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1975 for the murder of Marie Doyle, who was killed during the UVF bombing of Conway's Bar in north Belfast. Snodden served approximately 15 years in prison.[1][2]

Following his release, Snodden became involved in organisations working with former political prisoners and subsequently in conflict resolution, trauma support and reconciliation. He served as director of EPIC, an organisation supporting former loyalist prisoners, and later headed the Conflict Trauma Resource Centre in Belfast.[3][4]

Early life and paramilitary activity

Snodden grew up in Belfast and became involved in loyalist paramilitarism as a young man during the early years of the Troubles.[1]

On 13 March 1975, Snodden took part in a UVF bombing at Conway's Bar on the Shore Road in Belfast. A bomb being planted by the group exploded prematurely, killing UVF member George Brown and 38-year-old civilian Marie Doyle and injuring several other people.[1][5]

Snodden and fellow UVF member Edward Kinner were subsequently charged[6] and (in December 1975) sentenced to life imprisonment for Doyle's murder.[2] Snodden later said that the intended targets of the bombing had been republican paramilitaries.[1]

Imprisonment

Snodden spent around 15 years in prison, including time in "the Maze".[1] During his time in prison, he took part in political discussions among other loyalist inmates and read books on Irish history, politics and social inequality.[3] Snodden, alongside David Ervine, Billy Hutchinson and Billy Mitchell have been seen as helping develop a more politically oriented strand of loyalism focusing on working-class Protestant communities.[7]

Community and peace work

Following his release, Snodden became involved with EPIC, an organisation established to assist former loyalist prisoners reintegrate into society. By 2000, he was its director.[3] He was involved in discussions between representatives of republican and loyalist communities (including former prisoners) before the paramilitary ceasefires of the 1990s.[8]

He later became director of the Belfast-based Conflict Trauma Resource Centre (CTRC), which worked with people affected by the Troubles.[9] By 2005, The Independent described him as an international trauma and conflict-resolution worker.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Martin Snodden: Inside the mind of a repentant bomber". The Independent. 8 July 2005. Retrieved 24 August 2026.
  2. ^ a b "Belfast man gets life for pub murder". Belfast Telegraph. 18 December 1975. p. 1.
  3. ^ a b c McKittrick, David (2 December 2000). "Men of letters, men of arms". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 August 2026.
  4. ^ "Interview with Martin Snodden, Rosemary McCullough and Teena Patrick by attendees at the Meath Peace Group talk 'The Legacy of War' on 10 April 2006". Queen Mary University of London. 10 April 2006. Retrieved 24 August 2026.
  5. ^ The Ulster Volunteer Force: Leadership and Transformation (PDF) (Thesis). London Metropolitan University. Retrieved 24 August 2026.
  6. ^ "Charged with bar murder". Belfast Telegraph. 19 March 1975.
  7. ^ "Northern Ireland". Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly. Retrieved 24 August 2026.
  8. ^ "Politically Motivated Former Prisoner Groups: Community Activism and Conflict Transformation". University College Cork. Retrieved 24 August 2026.
  9. ^ "Victims' Groups: Groups providing support to victims of conflict in Northern Ireland" (PDF). Conflict Archive on the Internet. Retrieved 24 August 2026.

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