Former UDA leader Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair was among the notable figures at the funeral of former gangland enforcer Paul Ferris on Monday. The pair shared an unusual and complex alliance despite their significantly different backgrounds.
Ferris was a Catholic-born Scottish criminal, while Adair was a fierce anti-Catholic loyalist commander in Northern Ireland. However, they forged a deep and lasting friendship after Ferris was initially highly suspicious of Adair when the latter asked the ex-crime boss for help going straight in the early 2000s.
An Unlikely Meeting
In 2005, a mutual friend called Ferris to report that a "well-known street player" who had been in trouble most of his life wanted to walk away from it. Adair had got out of jail and moved to Troon in Ayrshire, having been exiled from Belfast after death threats from both republican paramilitaries and rival loyalist factions within the UDA and UVF.
He had reportedly taken inspiration from Ferris' book and was reflecting on his own life of crime and violence. The loyalist turned to Ferris for advice, and the pair met at a pub in Ayr. But Ferris had serious reservations about the link-up and feared that Adair might be setting him up or connected to his rival Tam 'The Licensee' McGraw. Both underworld figures brought their own security teams in fear of a sting.
Bonding Over Shared History
Despite their concerns, the pair bonded over their shared history and long stints in jail. Ferris was able to give Adair the advice he desperately required. The monumental meetup was detailed in Ferris' book 'Villains: It Takes One To Know One'.
In the book, the friend told Ferris of Adair: "It’s someone who’s been in a bit of trouble most of his life. Someone who wants to walk away from it, who’s looking for a bit of peace. He’s been reading your books, hearing about the film business and all that…He wants your advice on how you seem to have managed." His friend eventually revealed it was Johnny Adair.
Ferris said: "I felt uneasy…acid turned in my stomach. I was watching him, looking right into his eyes. He was as wary as Bambi in hunting season…I could see his eye flit from side to side, trying to spot the trap." Adair assured him he loathed McGraw.
Funeral Attendance
Ferris claims Mad Dog said: "I need to be left here to get on with my life." Ferris said as they walked back to their cars, they nodded to the men they had planted around the place for security, and there was a sense of relief. He added: "Mad Dog Adair was relieved he was still alive, and so was I."
Adair attended the funeral in blackout sunglasses. He greeted the hearse before sitting at the back of the crematorium for the service. As Ferris' coffin moved past the mourners, Adair could be seen bowing his head. In interviews, Adair has claimed that he now lives a quiet and ordinary life that is distanced from his paramilitary past.
