Jamie Bryson (born 1990 Donaghadee, Ireland) is an Irish Political activist in Ireland who originally attracted media attention as a leading figure in the Belfast City Hall. He is the author of four books a monthly newsletter and online site. He also runs a consultancy business focusing on loyalist public relations, legal work and advocacy.
Early activities
Bryson, an Ulster Protestant from Donaghadee, was born in 1990 to David and Louise Bryson. According to Bryson, he has been "involved in loyalism" since his "school days". He first came to public attention as the vice-chair of the North Down Somme Society, in which role he led complaints that the Royal British Legion (RBL) were excluding the society from participation in Remembrance Day events due to its alleged loyalist paramilitary links. Reportedly, the RBL were so opposed to the North Down Somme Society's involvement it had warned it would "walk away" from events if the group attended. He became a youth cohesion worker, and in December 2010 helped found the Community Partnership political party. He stood for the party in Bangor West at the 2011 Northern Ireland local elections, but took only 167 votes and was not elected.
In 2011, Bryson was active in a campaign against North Down Borough Council's allocation of Peace III funding, through which he met with Martin McGuinness.
Early in 2012, he was convicted of carrying an extendible baton, which he stated was to protect himself from drug dealers angered by his role as a community activist. Later in the year, he published The First Shades of God, a book which argued that churches should adapt to popular culture.
Belfast City Hall flag protests
At the end of 2012 Bryson, serving for a time as chair of the Ulster People's Forum, became a leading figure in the Belfast City Hall flag protests. In December 2012 Belfast City Council voted to limit the number of designated days for flying the Union Jack. Bryson, Jim Dowson and Willie Frazer coordinated a series of street protest against the decision.
He was taken into custody in Bangor on 28 February 2013 for questioning in connection with public order offences. Bryson was one of three protest leaders arrested, the others being Frazer and former British National Party funder Jim Dowson, with Dowson the only one of the three to be granted bail. In protest at this, it was announced Bryson would begin a "hunger and thirst strike", however it was subsequently revealed the strike only lasted a number of hours. In early March Bryson was charged with six matters relating to the protests.
Bryson spent five weeks on remand in HM Prison Maghaberry. Shortly following his arrival he requested to be transferred to the loyalist paramilitary wing where members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and Red Hand Commando (RHC) (a smaller group tied to the UVF) were held. Bryson told the Sunday Life newspaper that he had requested the transfer because "[he viewed himself] as a loyalist political prisoner". Bryson also said in this time he grew close to UDA prisoner Michael Stone, whom he described as "very smart man". A later report on a separate case by an Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) committee found that the segregated loyalist paramilitary wing of Maghaberry Prison was open only to UVF and UDA members, upon invitation from the UVF or UDA.
In March 2015 Bryson was found guilty of taking part in unlawful public processions and obstructing traffic due to his role in the protests and given a six-month suspended jail sentence.
UVF criminal probe
Bryson has drawn condemnation for various comments made regarding the Ulster Volunteer Force (a paramilitary terror group proscribed organization in the United Kingdom), including claiming that they were "patriots that defended us", that they were not terrorists, and that UVF flags erected in housing estates were "perfectly lawful UVF commemorative flags". He has also said that Brian Robinson, the a member of the UVF who was shot dead by the British Army in Belfast shortly after killing a Catholic civilian, was "murdered by the State he fought to defend."
In 2018 Bryson was arrested in relation to a UVF criminality probe. The PSNI sought to impose police bail conditions on him, restricting Bryson from discussing this arrest. Bryson did not comply with the police bail conditions, publishing a video online and giving newspaper interviews arguing that his arrest had nothing to do with any UVF activity, but rather was only in connection with an investigation by a regulatory body in relation to a door supervisory business. The PSNI dropped the conditions less than one week after Bryson's arrest.