[136][137] This activity has been described as its preferred source of funds in the early 1970s,[138] and it continued into the 2000s, with the UVF in County Londonderry being active. [130], The UVF has killed more people than any other loyalist paramilitary group. It was responsible for more than 500 deaths. [2] A few pints later Shaw and some friends returned to their local, on North Queen St., and opened it up. Only last year, a former leader of the Progressive Unionist Party Dawn Purvis said the UVF had not gone anywhere despite decommissioning its weapons in 2009. The UDA remained a legal organisation until it was banned in August 1992. Secret memo says explosives were shipped in small boats", "The Canadian Dimension to the Northern Ireland Conflict", "BBC - The Devenport Diaries: Remembering Billy Wright", "Sutton Index of Deaths: Crosstabulations (two-way tables)", "Sutton Index of Deaths: Status of the person killed", CAIN University of Ulster Conflict Archive, Ceasefires of the Provisional IRA, UVF, UDA and RHC, Murders of Andrew Robb and David McIlwaine, Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ulster_Volunteer_Force&oldid=1151340617, Proscribed paramilitary organisations in Northern Ireland, Organizations based in Europe designated as terrorist, Organisations designated as terrorist by the United Kingdom, Organised crime groups in Northern Ireland, CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using infobox militant organization with unknown parameters, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2016, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2008, All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases, Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from August 2022, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2009, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2020, All articles that may have off-topic sections, Wikipedia articles that may have off-topic sections from June 2022, Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from June 2022, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, May 1966 present (on ceasefire since October 1994; officially ended armed campaign in May 2007), Unnamed Chief of Staff (1974 October 1975). The LVF became the first paramilitary group to decommission any weapons late in 1998. With a few exceptions, such as Mid-Ulster brigadier Billy Hanna (a native of Lurgan), the Brigade Staff members have been from the Shankill Road or the neighbouring Woodvale area to the west. Fire engulfed the house next door, badly burning the elderly Protestant widow who lived there. The loyalist insider said Lisa's killing and disappearance has caused huge disquiet in the south-east Antrim UVF and RHC. Such retaliation was seen as both collective punishment and an attempt to weaken the IRA's support; it was thought that terrorising the Catholic community and inflicting such a death toll on it would force the IRA to end its campaign. This move came as the organisation held high-level discussions about its future. Formed in 1965,[7] it first emerged in 1966. Also shot up was the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) headquarters which faced the pub. The vast majority (more than two-thirds)[13][14] of its victims were Irish Catholic civilians, who were often killed at random. [55] At that time, the Stormont Executive almost collapsed but was saved by the assessment which said the Provisional IRA was wholly committed to the political process. Craig was killed, Tommy Lyttle was declared persona non grata and various brigadiers were removed from office, with the likes of Jackie McDonald, Joe English and Jim Gray taking their places. Alex Kerr (loyalist) - Wikipedia The Ulster Volunteer Force murdered more than 500 people during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Along with the UDA, it helped to enforce the strike by blocking roads, intimidating workers, and shutting any businesses that opened. [29], A second internal feud arose in 2002 when Johnny Adair and former politician John White were expelled from the UDA. Simmering tensions boiled over in a December 1999 incident involving LVF members and UVF Mid-Ulster brigadier Richard Jameson and his men at the Portadown F.C. [citation needed] The feud between the UVF and the LVF erupted again in the summer of 2005. Security sources have previously said that with more than 2,000. The Red Hand Commando, along with the UDA and UVF, is represented on the Loyalist Communities Council, which was formed in 2015. As the peace process gathered pace in the 1990s, Wright resisted it and he was eventually expelled from the UVF and ordered to leave Northern Ireland. [150], Scotland was a source of funding and aid, supplying explosives and guns. In March and April that year, UVF and UPV members bombed water and electricity installations in Northern Ireland, blaming them on the dormant IRA and elements of the civil rights movement. [119] Many retaliatory attacks on Catholics were claimed using the covername "Protestant Action Force" (PAF), which first appeared in autumn 1974. "[145], Protestants in Canada also supported the loyalist paramilitaries in the conflict. The damage from security service informers started in 1983 with "supergrass" Joseph Bennett's information, which led to the arrest of fourteen senior figures. The group also carried out attacks in the Republic of Ireland from 1969 onward. [44], The charges against Bunting were dropped in 2015 after a number of witnesses withdrew their statements, although Bunting did not return as brigadier, his place having been taken by "Big" Bill Hill, a dissident who had been prominent in the Belfast City Hall flag protests. [88], The UVF was blamed for the shotgun killing of expelled RHC member Bobby Moffett on the Shankill Road on the afternoon of 28 May 2010, in front of passers-by including children. [51] Some of the new Brigade Staff members bore nicknames such as "Big Dog" and "Smudger". [47] Both the UVF and the British Government have denied the claims. When the Assets Recovery Agency won a High Court order to seize luxury homes belonging to ex-policeman Colin Robert Armstrong and his partner Geraldine Mallon in 2005, Alan McQuillan said "We have further alleged Armstrong has had links with the UVF and then the LVF following the split between those organisations." [14] But, aside from these exceptions, Adair's attempt to ignite a full-scale war between the two organisations failed, as both the UVF and UDA leaderships moved decisively to contain the trouble within the Shankill area, where hundreds of families had been displaced, and focused on dealing with its source as well as its containment. Their weapons stock-piles are to be retained under the watch of the UVF leadership. The last victims were John 'Grug' Gregg (noted for a failed attempt on the life of Gerry Adams) and Robert Carson, another Loyalist. The South East Antrim Ulster Defence Association is a standalone faction of the UDA and was once part of its inner council. UDA men patrolling the area had seen the pubs lights on and ordered Shaw and his friends to close the place down and go home. [72] According to Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN), the UVF killed 17 active and four former republican paramilitaries. [87] The IICD confirmed that "substantial quantities of firearms, ammunition, explosives and explosive devices" had been decommissioned and that for the UVF and RHC, decommissioning had been completed. News. The initial aim of Ulster Resistance was to bring an end to the Anglo-Irish Agreement. Progress on Loyalist decommissioning | An Phoblacht The arms are thought to have consisted of: The UVF used this new infusion of arms to escalate their campaign of sectarian assassinations. Below: the UVF flag Dates of operation May 1966 - present (on ceasefire since October 1994; officially ended armed campaign in May 2007) Group(s) Young Citizen Volunteers(youth wing) Protestant Action Force(cover name) Progressive Unionist Party(political representation) Headquarters Belfast Active regions Northern Ireland(mostly) [13] Violence also spread to North Belfast, where members of the UVF's Mount Vernon unit shot and killed a UDA member, David Greer, in the Tiger's Bay area, sparking a series of killings in that part of the city. The Ulster Defence Association, formed in 1971, had tens of thousands of members at its peak. [132] A British Army report released in 2006 estimated a peak membership of 1,000. [86], In June 2009 the UVF formally decommissioned their weapons in front of independent witnesses as a formal statement of decommissioning was read by Dawn Purvis and Billy Hutchinson. . Known IRA men will be executed mercilessly and without hesitation. It declared a ceasefire in 1994 and officially ended its campaign in 2007, although some of its members have continued to engage in violence and criminal activities. [54] A political wing was formed in June 1974, the Volunteer Political Party led by UVF Chief of Staff Ken Gibson, which contested West Belfast in the October 1974 general election, polling 2,690 votes (6%). Consent Search for articles. There are an estimated 12,500 members of loyalist paramilitary groups in NI, a leaked security assessment has shown. Shipping locations near you | FedEx Provo "They are holding local communities to ransom. [103], On 23 March 2019, eleven alleged UVF members were arrested during a total of 14 searches conducted in Belfast, Newtownards and Comber and the suspects, aged between 22 and 48, were taken into police custody for questioning. Another loyalist paramilitary organisation called Ulster Resistance was formed on 10 November 1986. He planned to have it unfurled as the procession passed the Rex Bar, a UVF haunt, in order to antagonise the UVF and try and drag it into conflict with as much of the UDA as possible. [38] Tiger's Bay had emerged as the stronghold of the anti-Bunting faction. Explore in 3D: The dazzling crown that makes a king. However, the UVF spurned the government efforts and continued killing. The South East Antrim Ulster Defence Association is a standalone faction of the UDA and was once part of its inner council. [8] The group also continue to carry out racist and sectarian attacks against blacks and Eastern Europeans in Northern Ireland with ACC Will Kerr of the Northern Irish Police Service stating the group had contributed to a 70% rise in hate crime and is quoted as stating "It has a deeply unpleasant taste of a bit of ethnic cleansing. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. The reason for this was with the men not working and funds being tight, the wives saw what little money they did have being spent at the pubs and social clubs controlled by UDA/UVF; therefore, the wives put pressure on the leaders of both groups to shut them down for the duration of the strike, and after consultation they agreed. One study focusing in part on female members of the UVF and Red Hand Commando noted that it "seem[ed] to have been reasonably unusual" for women to be officially asked to join the UVF. Captain Robert Nairac of 14 Intelligence Company was alleged to have been involved in many acts of UVF violence. [167], There were also 66 UVF/RHC members and four former members killed in the conflict.[169]. Thirty-three people were killed and almost 300 injured. [42], The IRA had split into the Provisional IRA and Official IRA in December 1969. [98] Much of the UVF's orchestration was carried out by its senior members in East Belfast, where many attacks on the PSNI and on residents of the Short Strand enclave took place. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. They managed to procure a large cache of weapons and ammunition including L1A1 Self-Loading Rifles, Browning pistols, and Sterling submachine guns. Embattled ex-UVF boss 'stole 250k from gang' - belfasttelegraph Other military-style ranks are used by the group for its members, Timeline of Ulster Defence Association actions, Timeline of Ulster Volunteer Force actions, Timeline of Loyalist Volunteer Force actions, "UVF disbands unit linked to taxi murder", "Building bridges with the UDA". Sep 30 // football. The UVF's leadership is based in Belfast and known as the Brigade Staff. [106], In April 2021, riots erupted across Loyalist communities in Northern Ireland.[relevant? On 7 May 1966, loyalists petrol bombed a Catholic-owned pub in the loyalist Shankill area of Belfast. That recommendation is now backed by former Secretary of State Lord Mandelson. It sometimes claimed killings using the cover name the Protestant Action Force. The UVF launched further attacks in the Republic of Ireland during December 1972 and January 1973, when it detonated three car bombs in Dublin and one in Belturbet, County Cavan, killing a total of five civilians.