Ben Dunne remembered: 'Loyalists plotted to poison Dunnes Stores food unless boss coughed up half-a-million pounds to fill UVF war chest'

However, one anecdote which has not been widely circulated concerns an alleged conspiracy against his family by the UVF.

Details of it are contained in the book UVF: Beyond the Mask, written by Aaron Edwards, a senior lecturer in defence at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.

Mr Dunne had inherited the business following his father's death in April 1983; it remains a family enterprise to this day.

Mr Edwards wrote that, after the IRA successfully extorted money from the Dunne family by kidnapping him in 1981, the UVF also sought to use the family to "grow its 'war chest'".

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"In March 1984, the RUC uncovered a plot by UVF members to poison food being sold in supermarket chain Dunnes Stores unless a £500,000 ransom demand was paid," wrote Dr Edwards.

"The company, which had 20 stores in Northern Ireland, reassured its customers by implementing security measures in consultation with the RUC and An Garda Siochana.

"The plot was soon foiled when the RUC lured the extortionists to a cash drop in Dromore, County Down, where they were intercepted by police…

"The mastermind of the Dunnes Stores poisoning plot was rumoured to have been Mid Ulster UVF commander Robin 'The Jackal' Jackson, who promptly went on the run after the plot failed, fearing he'd be moved up the Provisional IRA's hit list."

Mr Dunne's body reportedly remains in Dubai, so as yet no funeral details have been released.

As it happens, exactly 30 years ago this Friday is the anniversary of a police operation which intercepted a massive arms haul bound for the UVF.

The shipment contained 300 assault rifles, thousands of bullets, 4,400 pounds of explosives, and detonators, and had originated in Poland. It was stopped in Teesport, England, by the British Transport Police.