Irish Political History series

Ulster Loyalism

Terminology Loyalism Unionism Image File history File links Ireland-up. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Northern_Ireland. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Unionism, in Ireland, is a belief in the desirability of a full constitutional and institutional relationship between Ireland and Great Britain based on the terms and order of government of the Act of Union 1800 which had merged both countries in 1801 to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain... Key documents Belfast Agreement Government of Ireland Act 1920 Solemn League and Covenant Sunningdale Agreement The Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement and, more rarely, as the Stormont Agreement) was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process. ... An Act to Provide for the Better Government of Ireland, more usually the Government of Ireland Act, 1920 (this is its official short title; the formal citation is 10 & 11 Geo. ... The Ulster Covenant was signed by hundreds of thousands of men all over Ulster, Ireland, on and before September 28, 1912, in protest of a Home Rule bill introduced in that same year. ... The Sunningdale Agreement on December 9, 1973, was an attempt to end the Northern Ireland troubles by forcing unionists to share power with nationalists. ... Parties Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party Ulster Democratic Party Progressive Unionist Party The Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party, also known as the Vanguard Ulster Progressive Party (and several variations of word order), was a unionist political party which existed in Northern Ireland between 1973 and 1978. ... The Ulster Democratic Party (UDP) were a small unionist political party operating in Northern Ireland. ... The Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) are a small political party from Northern Ireland. ... Paramilitaries Ulster Volunteer Force Ulster Defence Association Real Ulster Freedom Fighters Loyalist Volunteer Force Orange Volunteers Red Hand Commandos Red Hand Defenders Red Branch Knights Ulster Young Militants Combined Loyalist Military Command ULCCC Young Citizen Volunteers UFF redirects here; they are also the initials of the United Freedom Front, a radical left-wing organisation in the US. The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is a loyalist paramilitary organization in Northern Ireland, outlawed as a terrorist group in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, and which aim... The Real Ulster Freedom Fighters, otherwise known as the Real UFF (RUFF) is a loyalist paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland. ... The Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) is a loyalist terrorist group in Northern Ireland which broke away from the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and was led by the late Billy Wright. ... The Orange Volunteers (OV) are a break-away Loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. ... The Red Hand Commando are a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary group closely linked to the Ulster Volunteer Force. ... The Red Hand Defenders (RHD) is a terrorist group formed in 1998 and composed largely of Protestant hardliners from loyalist groups observing a cease-fire. ... The Red Branch Knights were a semi-mythical group of warriors in ancient Ireland, associated with the legendary hero Cuchulainn -champion of hte province of Uladh (modern Ulster). ... UYM mural painted on Ulsters Freedom Corner, Newtownards Road, Belfast. ... The Combined Loyalist Military Command was an umbrella body for Loyalist paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland set up in the early 1990s. ... The Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee (ULCCC) was set up in 1974 in the aftermath of the Ulster Workers Council Strike, in order to facilitate meetings and policy co-ordination between the Ulster Workers Council, the loyalist paramilitaries and the political representatives of loyalism. ... The Young Citizen Volunteers is the youth section of the Ulster Volunteer Force, a paramilitary group. ... Other Organisations Loyalist Association of Workers Peep O'Day Boys Tara Ulster Political Research Group Ulster Resistance Ulster Workers Council The Loyalist Association of Workers (LAW) was a militant Unionist organisation in Northern Ireland that sought to mobilise trade union members in support of the Loyalist cause. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... Tara was a loyalist movement in Northern Ireland that espoused a brand of evangelical Protestantism. ... The Ulster Political Research Group are an advisory body connected to the Ulster Defence Association, providing advice to them on political matters. ... Ulster Resistance was a paramilitary movement established by unionists in Northern Ireland on 10 November 1986 in opposition to the Anglo-Irish Agreement. ... The Ulster Workers Council was a Loyalist workers organisation set up in Northern Ireland in 1974 as a more formalised successor to the Loyalist Association of Workers. ... Cultural "The Twelfth" Apprentice Boys of Derry Orange Institution Royal Black Preceptory The Twelfth is an annual Protestant celebration on 12 July, originating in Ireland. ... Apprentice Boys of Derry Crest The Apprentice Boys Of Derry are a Protestant fraternal society with a worldwide membership, founded in 1814. ... Orange parade in Glasgow (1 June 2003) The Orange Institution, more commonly known as the Orange Order, is a Protestant fraternal organisation based predominantly in Northern Ireland and Scotland with lodges throughout the Commonwealth and in Canada and the United States. ... The Royal Black Institution, also known as the Royal Black Preceptory, or The Imperial Grand Black Chapter Of The British Commonwealth is a Protestant fraternal society. ... Songs Billy Boys Derry's Walls God Save the Queen The Sash The Billy Boys is a loyalist song from Glasgow, sung to the tune of Marching Through Georgia. ... Derrys Walls is a loyalist song sung in Scotland and Ireland. ... Publication of an early version in The Gentlemans Magazine, 15 October 1745. ... The Sash is an Irish Protestant ballad commemorating the Protestant victory in the Williamite war in Ireland in 1690-91. ... Symbols and Flags Coat of arms of Northern Ireland Orange order flag Red Hand of Ulster Ulster Banner Union Flag The Coat of Arms of Northern Ireland The Coat of Arms of Northern Ireland was granted to the Government of Northern Ireland in 1924, after the Irish Free State had separated from the United Kingdom. ... Orange parade in Glasgow (1 June 2003) The Orange Institution, more commonly known as the Orange Order, is a Protestant fraternal organisation based predominantly in Northern Ireland and Scotland with lodges throughout the Commonwealth and in Canada and the United States. ... Red Hand redirects here. ... The Union Flag is flown from government buildings in Northern Ireland. ... “Union Jack” redirects here. ... Other movements & links Monarchy in the Irish Free State Irish Nationalism Irish republicanism Irish Unionism King George V, the first monarch to reign in the Irish Free State. ... Irish nationalism refers to political movements that desire greater autonomy or the independence of Ireland from Great Britain. ... Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the Irish nationalist belief that all of Ireland should be a single independent republic, whether as a unitary state, a federal state or as a confederal arrangement. ... In the Irish context, Unionists form a group of largely (though not exclusively) Protestant people in Ireland, of all social classes, who wish to see the continuation of the Act of Union, as amended by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, under which the Northern Ireland provincial state created in...

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The Ulster Volunteer Force (more commonly referred to as the UVF) is a Loyalist group in Northern Ireland. The current incarnation was formed in May 1966 as a paramilitary group and named after the Ulster Volunteers of 1912, although there is no direct connection between the two. This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Northern Ireland (Irish: , Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a constituent country of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 km², about a sixth of the islands total area). ... Paramilitary designates forces whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military force, but which are not regarded as having the same status. ... The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is a Northern Ireland loyalist paramilitary group. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

The group is a proscribed organisation and classified as a terrorist group in Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Proscription (Latin: proscriptio) is the public identification and official condemnation of enemies of the state. ...

Origins

The group was concentrated around East Antrim, County Armagh and the Shankill district of Belfast. In their announcement on 21 May 1966, the UVF declared war on the Irish Republican Army (IRA), and made note of the fact that they were "heavily armed Protestants dedicated to this cause".^[1] They followed this announcement with the sectarian assassination of a Roman Catholic barman in June 1966. This attack led to the first leader of the group, Augustus 'Gusty' Spence, being arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommended minimum sentence of twenty years.^[2] The declaration of war was made despite the fact that the IRA had exhausted itself during their failed Border Campaign of attacks on British Army and Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) members in Northern Ireland that ended in 1962. East Antrim is a Parliamentary Constituency in the House of Commons and also an Assembly constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly. ... Statistics Province: Ulster County Town: Armagh Area: 1,254 km² Population (est. ... Shankill is an area in Belfast, Northern Ireland. ... This article is about the city in Northern Ireland. ... is the 141st day of the year (142nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty on 6 December 1921, the Irish Republican Army in the 26 counties that were to become the Irish Free State split between supporters and opponents of the Treaty. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Augustus Spence (born 28th June 1933) is a former member of the Ulster Volunteer Force and a leading loyalist politician. ... Combatants Irish Republican Army Royal Ulster Constabulary Ulster Special Constabulary British Army Commanders IRA Army Council Seán Cronin Ruairí Ó Brádaigh Strength c. ... The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. ...

The UVF was also responsible for a series of attacks on utilities installations in Northern Ireland during 1969. It was hoped that this campaign would be blamed on the IRA forcing moderate unionists to increase their opposition to the tentative reforms of Terence O'Neill's government. As civil disorder, rioting and violence known locally as "the Troubles" intensified, the UVF began a campaign of sectarian murder against Catholic civilians. The UVF, in its announcements to the media, claimed its violence was a reaction to the violence of the newly formed Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA). This circle of attack by the PIRA against the institutions of Northern Ireland, RUC, and British Army would be followed by counter-attack on the people the UVF saw as "hosting" the PIRA: Roman Catholic civilians. Some of the UVF's attacks were carried out in cooperation with the Ulster Protestant Volunteers, another loyalist paramilitary organisation. Membership of these groups overlapped in some cases. Terence Marne ONeill, Baron ONeill of the Maine, PC (10 September 1914–12 June 1990) was the fourth Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. ... For other uses, see Troubles (disambiguation) and Trouble. ... The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Irish: Óglaigh na hÉireann) (IRA; also referred to as the PIRA, the Provos, or by some of its supporters as the Army or the RA.[2]) is an Irish Republican, left wing[3] paramilitary organisation that, until the Belfast Agreement, sought to end Northern... A Loyalist paramilitary style grouping established in the late 1960s. ...

The 1970s

As the violence in Northern Ireland began to escalate in the early 1970s the UVF's attacks became more random and lethal. One example of this is the McGurk's Bar bombing, New Lodge, Belfast on 4 December 1971 which killed fifteen Catholic civilians. The attack was initially blamed on republican paramilitaries by the authorities and media but the UVF later admitted responsibility.^[3] A subset of the UVF dubbed the Shankill Butchers (a group of UVF men based on the Shankill Road in Belfast) carried out a grisly series of sectarian murders of Catholic civilians. Tiocfaidh Ar La. The victims were beaten and tortured before being killed. Another UVF group was responsible, allegedly with help from former and serving members of the Ulster Defence Regiment and MI5, for the bombs in Dublin and Monaghan of 17 May 1974 when thirty-three people were killed. The UVF was also to blame for the deaths of twelve civilians in an attack on 2 October 1974. The organisation carried out further attacks throughout the 1970s. These included the "Miami Showband killings" of 31 July 1975 — when three members of a showband from the Republic of Ireland were killed having been stopped at a fake British Army checkpoint on the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Two members of the group survived the attack and later testified against those responsible. Two UVF members were accidentally killed by their own bomb while carrying out this attack. Two of those later convicted (James McDowell and Thomas Crozier) were also members of the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), a part-time, locally recruited regiment of the British Army. P.I.R.A. The McGurks Bar bombing was one of the first major atrocities of The Troubles, which occurred on the December 4, 1971. ... New Lodge is the name of several places in the United Kingdom. ... is the 338th day of the year (339th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. ... The Shankill Butchers were a group of Ulster Volunteer Force members in Belfast, Northern Ireland, who abducted Roman Catholics usually walking home from a night out, tortured and/or savagely beat them, and killed them, usually by cutting their throats. ... UDR Badge The Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army. ... MI-5 redirects here. ... The Dublin and Monaghan Bombings on May 17, 1974 were a series of terrorist attacks on Dublin and Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland which left 33 people dead, and almost 300 injured, the largest number of casualties in any single day in The Troubles. ... For other uses, see Dublin (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Monaghan (disambiguation). ... is the 137th day of the year (138th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. ... is the 275th day of the year (276th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. ... The Miami Showband killings occurred in 1975 near Newry, in South Armagh, Northern Ireland when The Miami Showband musical group were traveling home to Dublin after a gig in Banbridge, Co. ... is the 212th day of the year (213th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... In Ireland, from the mid 1950s to the late 1970s, the main source of music at dance halls was the showband. ... Northern Ireland (Irish: , Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a constituent country of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 km², about a sixth of the islands total area). ... UDR Badge The Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army. ... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ...

The group had been proscribed in July 1966, but this ban was lifted in April 1974 in an effort to bring the UVF into the democratic process. A political wing was formed in June 1974, the Volunteer Political Party which contested West Belfast in the October 1974 General Election, polling 2,690 votes (6%). The UVF spurned the government efforts however and continued killing. Colin Wallace, part of the intelligence apparatus of the British Army, asserted in an internal memo in 1975 that MI6 and RUC Special Branch formed a pseudo-gang within the UVF, designed to engage in violence and to subvert moves of the UVF towards the political process. Captain Robert Nairac of 14 Intelligence Company was alleged to have been involved in many acts of UVF violence.^[4] The UVF was banned again on 3 October 1975 and two days later twenty-six suspected UVF members were arrested in a series of raids. The men were tried and in March 1977 were sentenced to an average of twenty-five years each.^{[citation needed]} The Volunteer Political Party was a political party formed in Northern Ireland in 1974 by members of the then recently legalised Ulster Volunteer Force under the leadership of Ken Gibson. ... Creation 1922 MP Gerry Adams Party Sinn Féin Type House of Commons Districts Belfast, Lisburn EP constituency Northern Ireland Belfast West is a Parliamentary Constituency in the House of Commons and also an Assembly constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly. ... Harold Wilson Edward Heath The United Kingdom general election of October 1974 took place on 10 October 1974. ... Colin Wallace is a former British soldier and psychological warrior who was one of the members of the Clockwork Orange project, which is alleged to have been an attempt to smear a number of British politicians in the early 1970s. ... Captain Robert Laurence Nairac GC (31 August 1948–15 May 1977) was a British Army officer who was killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) and posthumously awarded the George Cross. ... 14 Intelligence Company is or was a UK special forces unit, operating in Northern Ireland from the 1970s onwards. ... is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Campaign in the 1980s and 1990s

In the 1980s, the UVF was greatly reduced by a series of police informers. The damage from security service informers started in 1983 with supergrass Joseph Bennett's information which led to the arrest of fourteen senior figures. In 1984, they attempted to kill the northern editor of the Sunday World, Jim Campbell. By the mid 1980s, a Loyalist paramilitary-style organisation called Ulster Resistance was formed on 10 November 1986 by Ian Paisley, then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Peter Robinson of the DUP, and Ivan Foster. The initial aim of Ulster Resistance was to bring an end to the Anglo-Irish Agreement. Ulster Resistance was successful in importing arms into Northern Ireland. The weapons were Palestine Liberation Organisation arms captured by the Israelis, sold to Armscor, the South African state-owned company which, in defiance of the 1977 United Nations arms embargo, set about making South Africa self-sufficient in military hardware. The arms were divided between the UDA, the UVF and Ulster Resistance. The arms are thought to have consisted of: The word Informer can refer to: Look up informer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The term supergrass is used in Northern Ireland to refer police informers, typically the arrested paramilitaries who divulged the identities of their compatriots to the Royal Ulster Constabulary in exchange for immunity from prosecution and in many cases substantial sums of money. ... Joseph Bentley Bennett (April 21, 1859 - November 7, 1923) was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky. ... The Sunday World is an Irish newspaper published by Sunday Newspapers Limited, a division of Independent News and Media. ... Ulster Resistance was a paramilitary movement established by unionists in Northern Ireland on 10 November 1986 in opposition to the Anglo-Irish Agreement. ... is the 314th day of the year (315th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... Ian Richard Kyle Paisley (born 6 April 1926), styled The Revd and Rt Hon. ... This article is about the political party in Northern Ireland. ... Peter David Robinson (born December 29, 1948) is a Democratic Unionist Party Member of Parliament for East Belfast. ... The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) (Arabic Munazzamat al-Tahrir Filastiniyyah منظمة تحرير فلسطينية ) is a political and paramilitary organization of Palestinian Arabs dedicated to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state to consist of the...

• 200 Czech Vz-58P assault rifles,
• 90 Browning pistols,
• 500 RGD-5 offensive grenades,
• 30,000 rounds of ammunition and
• 12 RPG-7 rocket launchers and 150 warheads.

The UVF used this new infusion of arms to escalate their campaign of sectarian assassinations. Browning pistol and RGD5 grenades were used in Micheal Stone's attack on the funeral of IRA members killed in Gibraltar (along with a Ruger .357 pistol taken from the RUC) — see Milltown Cemetery attack. While this era saw a more widespread targeting on the UVF's part of IRA and Sinn Féin members, most of their victims continued to be Catholic civilians uninvolved in paramilitary activity. The Sa vz. ... Browning Arms Company was founded in Utah in 1927. ... The RGD-5 hand grenade is an anti-personnel fragmentation grenade currently in Russian service. ... The RPG-7 (Russian: ) is a widely-produced, portable, shoulder-launched, anti-tank rocket propelled grenade weapon. ... Sturm, Ruger & Company is a Connecticut-based manufacturing company composed of three divisions: Ruger Firearms, Ruger Investment Castings, and Ruger Golf. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Republican assassination campaign

(see article on PIRA and loyalist paramilitaries) The I.R.A will set them free. From 1969 until 1997, the Provisional Irish Republican Armyconducted an armed campaign in Northern Ireland aimed at overthrowing British rule there and creating a united Ireland. ...

From the late 1980s onwards, the UVF began attacking republican paramilitaries, political activists and their families. On 3 March 1991 they killed IRA members John Quinn, Dwayne O'Donnell and Malcolm Nugent, and civilian Thomas Armstrong in the car park next to Boyle's Bar, Cappagh.^[5] According to nationalist sources, Billy Wright the leader of the UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade was involved in the killings.^[6] Republicans responded by assassinating Loyalist leaders, including John Bingham, Trevor King^[7], Leslie Dallas and Robert Seymore of the UVF.^[8] According to the Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN), the IRA killed thirty-five loyalists, of whom eleven were UVF members, in this way ^[9] The cycle of killings between the rival paramilitary groups was not brought to an end until the ceasefires of 1994. is the 62nd day of the year (63rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... Irish nationalism refers to political movements that desire greater autonomy or the independence of Ireland from Great Britain. ... Billy Wright (July 7, 1960 – December 27, 1997) was a Northern Irish paramilitary [1], a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and leader of the extremist Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF). ... CAIN (Conflict Archive on the Internet) is a database containing information about Conflict and Politics in Northern Ireland from 1968 to the Present. ...

1994 ceasefire

In 1990 the UVF joined the Combined Loyalist Military Command and indicated its acceptance of moves towards peace. However, the year leading up to the loyalist ceasefire, which took place shortly after the Provisional IRA ceasefire, saw some of the worst sectarian killings carried out by loyalists during the Troubles. On 16 June 1994, UVF members machine-gunned a pub in Loughlinisland, County Down on the basis that its customers were watching the Republic of Ireland national football team playing in the World Cup on television and were therefore assumed to be Catholics. The gunmen shot dead six people and injured five. The Combined Loyalist Military Command was an umbrella body for Loyalist paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland set up in the early 1990s. ... For other uses, see Troubles (disambiguation) and Trouble. ... is the 167th day of the year (168th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ... Statistics Province: Ulster County Town: Downpatrick Area: 2,448 km² Population (est. ... First international Irish Free State 1 - 0  Bulgaria (Stade Olympique, Colombes, France; May 28, 1924) Biggest win Republic of Ireland 8 - 0 Malta (Dalymount Park, Republic of Ireland; 16 November 1983) Biggest defeat Brazil 7 - 0 Republic of Ireland (Uberlândia, Brazil; 27 May 1982) World Cup Appearances 3 (First... For the club competition, see FIFA Club World Cup. ...

The UVF agreed to a ceasefire in October 1994. The PIRA for their part refute this claim, saying that it was in fact their own assassination campaign against the UVF and Ulster Defence Association, which led to both organizations calling their own respective ceasefires. UFF redirects here; they are also the initials of the United Freedom Front, a radical left-wing organisation in the US. The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is a loyalist paramilitary organization in Northern Ireland, outlawed as a terrorist group in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, and which aim...

Recent developments

More militant members of the UVF, led by Billy Wright who disagreed with the ceasefire, broke away in 1996 to form the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF). The UVF has been fighting with the LVF since then and in mid 2000 they also clashed with the largest loyalist group, the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). The clash with the UDA ended in December following seven deaths. Veteran anti-UVF campaigner, Protestant Raymond McCord (whose son was beaten to death by UVF men in 1997) estimates the UVF has killed more than thirty people since its 1994 ceasefire, most of them Protestants. The feud between the UVF and the LVF erupted again in the summer of 2005. The UVF killed four men in Belfast and the feud ended in October 2005 when the LVF announced that it was disbanding.^[10] Billy Wright (July 7, 1960 – December 27, 1997) was a Northern Irish terrorist, a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and leader of the extremist Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF). ... The Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) is a loyalist terrorist group in Northern Ireland which broke away from the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and was led by the late Billy Wright. ... UFF redirects here; they are also the initials of the United Freedom Front, a radical left-wing organisation in the US. The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is a loyalist paramilitary organization in Northern Ireland, outlawed as a terrorist group in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, and which aim... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ...

On 14 September 2005, following serious loyalist rioting during which dozens of shots were fired at riot police, the Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain announced that the British government no longer recognised the UVF ceasefire.^[11] is the 257th day of the year (258th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is the British cabinet minister who has responsibility for the government of Northern Ireland. ... Peter Gerald Hain PC MP (born February 16, 1950, Nairobi, Kenya) is a British, Left-wing Labour Party politician and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (he is also Secretary of State for Wales). ... A logo of Her Majestys Government. ...

UVF renounced "violence" and declared it was putting its arms "beyond reach" on 3 May 2007, though without as yet going as far as formally disarming itself, in the latest sign of progress towards peace ahead of the revival of self-rule in Northern Ireland, which restarted on 8 May 2007.^[12] is the 123rd day of the year (124th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... Northern Ireland (Irish: , Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a constituent country of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 km², about a sixth of the islands total area). ... is the 128th day of the year (129th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ...

Drug dealing activity

The UVF state they are against drug dealing, and will deal justice to drug dealers. The UVF like the IRA has put a series of anti-drugs posters up on the estates they run to warn the dealers that they aren't welcome.^[13]

The UVF have been implicated in drug dealing in areas where they draw their support from. Recently it has emerged from the Police Ombudsman that senior North Belfast UVF member and Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) Special Branch informant Mark Haddock has been involved in drug dealing. According to the Belfast Telegraph, "...70 separate police intelligence reports implicating the north Belfast UVF man in dealing cannabis, Ecstasy, amphetamines and cocaine."^[14] The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. ... Mark Haddock (born Belfast, Northern Ireland, 1968) is a Loyalist paramilitary leader in Northern Ireland, and British Special Branch informer, who has been named by various sources in connection with more than 21 murders. ... The Belfast Telegraph is a daily evening newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland by Independent News and Media. ...

Strength and support

The strength of the UVF is uncertain. It peaked in the early 1970s at possibly over one thousand members. The first Independent Monitoring Commission report in April 2004 estimated the UVF/RHC had "a few hundred" active members "based mainly in the Belfast and immediately adjacent areas" [4]. The UVF weaponry is limited to small arms, with its sporadic bombing efforts being made using stolen quarrying explosives. The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ... The Independent Monitoring Commission is an organisation, founded on 7 January 2004, to promote peace and stability in Northern Ireland. ... Small arms captured in Fallujah, Iraq by the US Marine Corps in 2004 The term small arms generally describes any number of smaller infantry weapons, such as firearms that an individual soldier can carry. ... This article is concerned solely with chemical explosives. ...

Affiliated organisations

• The Red Hand Commandos (RHC) is an organisation that was established in 1972, but it is so closely linked with the UVF that it is generally regarded as simply a cover name.^{[citation needed]}

• The Young Citizen Volunteers (YCV) is the youth section of the UVF. It was initially a youth group akin to the Scouts, but became the youth wing of the UVF during the Home Rule crisis.

• The Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) is the political wing of the UVF.^[15] They have one member in the Northern Ireland Assembly, their party leader Dawn Purvis.

• The Protestant Action Force and Protestant Action Group are two cover names used by the UVF in the late 1970s and 1980s in a number of murders on Catholics.^[16]

The Red Hand Commando are a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary group closely linked to the Ulster Volunteer Force. ... The Young Citizen Volunteers is the youth section of the Ulster Volunteer Force, a paramilitary group. ... Scouting Ireland (Irish: Gasóga na hÉireann) is the national Scouting association of Ireland (both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland) and a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). ... The Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) are a small political party from Northern Ireland. ... The logo of the Northern Ireland Assembly, a six flowered linen or flax plant. ... Dawn Purvis is the current leader of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) in Northern Ireland, and was previously party Chairperson. ...

Deaths as a result of activity

The UVF has killed more people than any other loyalist paramilitary organisation. According to the University of Ulster's Sutton database, the UVF was responsible for 426 killings during the Troubles, between 1969 and 2001: The University of Ulster (UU) is a multi-centre university located in Northern Ireland and is the largest single university on the island of Ireland, discounting the federal National University of Ireland. ... For other uses, see Troubles (disambiguation) and Trouble. ...

350 of its victims were civilians,

8 were civilian political activists, mainly members of Sinn Féin

41 were loyalist paramilitaries (including 29 members of the UVF itself),

6 were British Army, Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) or Prison Officers and

12 were republican paramilitaries.

For pre-Arthur Griffith use of the political name, see Sinn Féin (19th century). ... The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. ... Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the Irish nationalist belief that all of Ireland should be a single independent republic, whether as a unitary state, a federal state or as a confederal arrangement. ...

Ceasefire and decommissioning of weaponry

On 12 February 2006, The Observer reported that the UVF was to disband by the end of 2006. The newspaper also reported that the group refused to decommission its weapons.^[17] is the 43rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

On 2 September 2006, BBC News reported the UVF may be intending to re-enter dialogue with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, with a view to decommissioning of their weapons. This move comes as the organisation holds high level discussions about their future.^[18] is the 245th day of the year (246th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ...

On 3 May 2007, following recent negotiations between the PUP and Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and with Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde, the UVF made a statement that they would transform to a "non-military, civilianised" organisation.^[19] This was to take effect from midnight. They also stated that they would retain their weaponry but put them beyond reach of normal volunteers. Their weapons stock-piles are to be retained under the watch of the UVF leadership.^[20][21][22] is the 123rd day of the year (124th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... The Taoiseach (IPA: or ) — plural: Taoisigh ( or ), also referred to as An Taoiseach[1], is the head of government of Ireland or prime minister. ... Bartholomew Bertie Ahern (Irish: ;[1] born 12 September 1951) is an Irish politician who, since 26 June 1997, has served as the tenth Taoiseach of Ireland. ... The Police Service of Northern Ireland (Irish: Seirbhís Póilíneachta Thuaisceart na hÉireann) is the police service that covers Northern Ireland. ... Sir Hugh Stephen Orde, OBE, is the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). ...

Footnotes

Peter Taylor is a British journalist and documentary maker who has covered the Troubles in Northern Ireland for many years. ... Bloomsbury Publishing Plc is an independent, London-based publishing house known for literary novels. ...

See also

• Billy Wright
• Larne Gun Running
• Young Citizens Volunteers
• Red Hand Commandos
• Terrorists
• Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD) - Organisation overseeing Decommissioning,
• Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) - Organisation monitoring activity by paramilitary groups.

Billy Wright (July 7, 1960 – December 27, 1997) was a Northern Irish paramilitary [1], a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and leader of the extremist Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF). ... In March 1914 Prime Minister H. H. Asquith introduced his Home Rule Bill for Ireland into the House of Commons. ... The Young Citizen Volunteers is the youth section of the Ulster Volunteer Force, a paramilitary group. ... The Red Hand Commando are a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary group closely linked to the Ulster Volunteer Force. ... Terrorism refers to the use of violence for the purpose of achieving a political, religious, or ideological goal. ... The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD) was established to oversee the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons in Ireland, as part of the peace process. ... The Independent Monitoring Commission is an organisation, founded on 7 January 2004, to promote peace and stability in Northern Ireland. ...

References

• Tony Geraghty, The Irish War

Born in the Roman Catholic, nationalist Markets area of Belfast, Northern Ireland, and a graduate of St. ...

External links

• History of the 1912 UVF
• History of the YCV
• CAIN - University of Ulster Conflict Archive
• Photographs of UVF murals
• Ulster Volunteer Force
• [5]