In the biting cold, Jackie McDonald announced that it was time to awaken a " sleeping giant" as he explained the UDA's new direction to a crowd of several hundred supporters who had huddled into a narrow street in Sandy Row, the stronghold of the UDA's south Belfast brigade.

Earlier journalists, bandsmen, scores of men in suits and a solitary police officer had congregated on the nearby Donegall Road for the Remembrance Day parade and the anticipated statement announcing the end of the Ulster Freedom Fighters.

One marshall began the proceedings by taking the media aside to tell them which parts of the ceremony could be recorded and which could not, adding that he did not want to see "any sleekit filming".

Soon the parade was under way in the drizzle, led by men wearing sunglasses. Pyjama-clad neighbours gathered in their porches and watched the marchers and bands pause twice before finally reaching the McMichael Memorial on Sandy Row.

UDA leader Jackie McDonald laid the first wreath and gave the first salute at the site commemorating the dead of two World Wars, as well as south Belfast UDA men.

Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG) representative Colin Halliday read a statement which opened by saying the UDA's war is over and added "the ballot box and the political institutions must be the greatest weapons".

As he read that all military intelligence was to be destroyed he was heckled by a solitary male voice who shouted "up the UFF" before he walked away muttering curses and obscenities.

Soon Jackie McDonald took centre stage amid applause. He insisted that the UDA was not going away and said he hoped it would always exist.

Despite his criticism of unionist leaders, he said he supported the devolved government. "I agree with what Ian Paisley did. He had to do it. We have to have an Assembly and a devolved government. Whatever the price, we have to move on."

He also urged a tough line against all criminals. If drug dealers could not be shot then they should be "shopped" instead. He urged working class loyalists to register to vote and spoke of the virtues of education. As he hinted at a political future for the UDA, one supporter shouted out his backing for the "URPG" which brought a smile and a thank-you from McDonald.

McDonald left the stage by wishing the crowd a safe journey home before shaking hands with several supporters while photographers snapped around him. Cue The Carpenters...