[36] Catholic churches were also attacked. The UVF's last major attack was the 1994 Loughinisland massacre, in which its members shot dead six Catholic civilians in a rural pub. From that time until the early 1990s the Mid-Ulster Brigade was led by Robin "the Jackal" Jackson, who then passed the leadership to Billy Wright. Both pubs were wrecked and a number of people were wounded. Veteran anti-UVF campaigner Raymond McCord, whose son, Raymond Jr., a Protestant, 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 UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade was founded in 1972 in Lurgan by Billy Hanna, a captain in the UDR and a member of the Brigade Staff, who served as the brigade's commander until his shooting death in July 1975. Their campaign of violence quickly marked them out as one of the most extreme loyalist groups. He was the first RUC officer to be killed during the Troubles. [58][59][98] Graham has held the position since he assumed office in 1976. The group undertook an armed campaign of almost thirty years during The Troubles. Ed Moloney, Secret History of the IRA, p.321, "Voices From the Grave:Two Men's War in Ireland" Ed Moloney, Faber & Faber, 2010 pp 417. [116], Like the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), the UVF's modus operandi involved assassinations, mass shootings, bombings and kidnappings. Two UVF men were accidentally blown up in this attack. All were widely blamed on the IRA, and British soldiers were sent to guard installations. They are wearing part of the UVF uniform which earned them their nickname "Blacknecks". They catalogue the atrocities in which the UVF were involved, including the. The group is a designated terrorist organisation in the United Kingdom and a proscribed organisation in the Republic of Ireland. [141] Its main benefactors have been in central Scotland,[142] Liverpool,[143] Preston[143] and the Toronto area of Canada. 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 the tentative moves of some in the UVF towards the political process. [76][77][78], In January 2008, the UVF was accused of involvement in vigilante action against alleged criminals in Belfast. Spence claimed that he was approached in 1965 by two men, one of whom was an Ulster Unionist Party MP, who told him that the UVF was to be re-established and that he was to have responsibility for the Shankill. Referring to its activity in the early and mid-1970s, journalist Ed Moloney described no-warning pub bombings as the UVF's "forte". These attacks were stepped up in the late 1980s and early 1990s, particularly in the east Tyrone and north Armagh areas. Many UVF men enlisted, mostly with the 36. The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) the loyalist paramilitary group behind Friday's proxy bomb threat that saw Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney evacuated from a peace event in Belfast have. Thirty-three people were killed and almost 300 injured. The following is a chronological list of all those who have been killed as a result of paramilitary feuds in Northern Ireland between 1971 and 1998. [81], 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. Fermanagh. During 1970, 42 Catholic-owned licensed premises in Protestant areas were bombed. http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/alpha/K.html, "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths crosstabulations", http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/crosstabs.html, "UVF disbands unit linked to taxi murder", http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4393664.stm, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4243652.stm, http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,1708038,00.html, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/5306670.stm, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6618365.stm, http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0503/uvf.html, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6618177.stm, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6618371.stm, Law and order Belfast-style as two men are forced on a 'walk of shame', http://www.independentmonitoringcommission.org/documents/uploads/Twentieth%20Report.pdf, 'Report of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning', "Police say UVF gunman seen in Rathcoole during trouble", http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-11636056, http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/UVF-linked-to-brutal-killing.6328552.jp. The biggest of these was the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings, which killed 34 civilians, making it the deadliest terrorist attack of the conflict. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former British soldier. The Volunteer Political Party (VPP) was a loyalist political party launched in Northern Ireland on 22 June 1974 by members of the then recently legalised Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).The Chairman was Ken Gibson from East Belfast, an ex-internee and UVF chief of staff at the time. On 23 October 1972, the UVF carried out an armed raid against King's Park camp, a UDR/Territorial Army depot in Lurgan. Sam "Bo" McClelland (1966-1973) [28] Described as a "tough disciplinarian", he was personally appointed by Spence to. November 2nd sees the publication of My Life In Loyalism, the memoir of Billy Hutchinson (leader of the Progressive Unionist Party, Belfast City Councillor and former UVF member).Written with Dr. Gareth Mulvenna, it has been described in the press notes as being filled "with great candour and honesty, this is a gripping memoir of an extraordinary life which reveals previously unpublished . John Graham (loyalist) Ulster Volunteer Force member. [76][77][78], In January 2008, the UVF was accused of involvement in vigilante action against alleged criminals in Belfast. The newspaper also reported that the group refused to decommission its weapons. Ulster Volunteer Force members William Smith (loyalist) Loyalist former paramilitary and politician. 30 June 2002. [23], An old UVF mural on Shankill Road, where the group was formed. The Irish Army also set up field hospitals near the border. [159], There were also 66 UVF/RHC members and four former members killed in the conflict.[161]. A North Belfast man appeared at the city's Crown Court on Thursday accused of the UVF murders of two Catholic workmen. Noted for secrecy and a policy of limited, selective membership,[1][2][3][4][5] the UVF's declared goals were to combat Irish republicanism particularly republican paramilitaries, and to maintain Northern Ireland's status as part of the United Kingdom. [22] The group called itself the "Ulster Volunteer Force" (UVF), after the original UVF of the early 20th century. [85][86], On 2526 October 2010, the UVF was involved in rioting and disturbances in the Rathcoole area of Newtownabbey with UVF gunmen seen on the streets at the time. page 1. Twenty tons of ammonium nitrate was also stolen from the Belfast docks.[40]. The weapons were Palestine Liberation Organisation arms captured by the Israelis and sold to Armscor, the South African state-owned company which, in defiance of a 1977 United Nations arms embargo, set about making South Africa self-sufficient in military hardware. On Tuesday, four men were each sentenced to a minimum of 15 years in prison for the murder of Colin Horner in Bangor in May 2017. Read More UVF Cross Country Champions 2022 Saturday, October 29, marked a special day in athletics for the University of Valley Forge. Grob-Fitzgibbon, Benjamin. [58], The UVF's nickname is "Blacknecks", derived from their uniform of black polo neck jumper, black trousers, black leather jacket, black forage cap, along with the UVF badge and belt. 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. Along with the newly formed Ulster Defence Association (UDA), the UVF started an armed campaign against the Catholic population of Northern Ireland. Whilst remaining de jure UVF leader after he was jailed for murder, he no longer acted as Chief of. [89][90] A dissident Republican was arrested for "the attempted murder of police officers in east Belfast" after shots were fired upon the police. [9] Whenever it claimed responsibility for its attacks, the UVF usually claimed that those targeted were IRA members or IRA sympathisers. [citation needed]. The Mid-Ulster Brigade was also responsible for the 1975 Miami Showband ambush, in which three members of the popular Irish cabaret band The Miami Showband were shot dead at a bogus military checkpoint by gunmen dressed in British Army uniforms. [31], The UVF had launched its first attack in the Republic of Ireland on 5 August 1969, when it bombed the RT Television Centre in Dublin. Spence told Radio Ulster that the UVF had been "engaged in murder, attempted murder of civilians, attempted murder of police officers. On 7 May, loyalists petrol bombed a Catholic-owned pub in the loyalist Shankill area of Belfast. Members of the band were made to line up at the side of the road while one UVF member tried to hide a bomb on the bus. [60], In the 1980s, the UVF was greatly reduced by a series of police informers. He was shot dead by the IRA in November 1982, four months after his release from the Maze Prison. The UVF agreed to a ceasefire in October 1994. [56] The UVF's activities in the last years of the decade were increasingly being curtailed by the number of UVF members who were sent to prison. The story of former UVF member Alistair Little. The UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade was founded in 1972 in Lurgan by Billy Hanna, a sergeant in the UDR and a member of the Brigade Staff, who served as the brigade's commander, until he was shot dead in July 1975. The UVF stated that the attempted attack was a protest against the Irish Army units "still massed on the border in County Donegal". [124][125] Although Scottish support for loyalist paramilitaries has been hindered by the strong disapproval of the mainstream Orange Order in that country,[126][127] it is estimated that the UVF nevertheless received hundreds of thousands of pounds in donations to its Loyalist Prisoners Welfare Association. [96], Masked UVF Brigade Staff members at a press conference in October 1974. [101], The strength of the UVF is uncertain. 58 assault rifles in the 1980s. [70], There followed years of violence between the two organisations. ", "UVF orders removal of Catholic families from Carrickfergus housing estate in '21st century form of ethnic cleansing'. [112] The vast majority of its victims were Irish Catholic civilians, who were often killed at random. 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. 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. [89], In July 2011 a UVF flag flying in Limavady was deemed legal by the PSNI after the police had received complaints about the flag from nationalist politicians. During the riot, UVF members shot dead RUC officer Victor Arbuckle. [26], On 26 June, the group shot dead a Catholic civilian and wounded two others as they left a pub on Malvern Street, Belfast. Eleven months later, a 40-year old man was arrested and charged with the attempted murder of the UVF's alleged second-in-command Harry Stockman, described by the media as a "senior Loyalist figure". [44], The brigade formed part of the Glenanne gang, a loose alliance of loyalist assassins which the Pat Finucane Centre has linked to 87 killings in the 1970s. The Irish parliament's Joint Committee on Justice called the bombings an act of "international terrorism" involving the British security forces. More militant members of the UVF, led by Billy Wright who disagreed with the ceasefire, broke away to form the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF). [22] In April, loyalists led by Ian Paisley, a Protestant fundamentalist preacher, founded the Ulster Constitution Defence Committee (UCDC). Menu "Chapter 7 subsection: The Loyalist terrorists of Ulster, 196994". Sam "Bo" McClelland (1966-1973) [28] Described as a "tough disciplinarian", he was personally appointed by Spence to. [20][21], Since 1964, there had been a growing civil rights campaign in Northern Ireland. Welcome to Vieux Fort Airport (UVF-Hewanorra Intl.)! The Irish parliament's Joint Committee on Justice called the bombings an act of "international terrorism" involving the British security forces. [15] In the late summer and autumn of 1973 the UVF detonated more bombs than the UDA and IRA combined,[16] and by the time of the group's temporary ceasefire in late November it had been responsible for over 200 explosions that year. [131] The UVF has also been involved in the extortion of legitimate businesses, although to a lesser extent than the UDA,[138] and was described in the fifth IMC report as being involved in organised crime. That year, a string of tit-for-tat pub bombings began in Belfast. The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. [29] The loyalists "intended to force a crisis which would so undermine confidence in O'Neill's ability to maintain law and order that he would be obliged to resign". According to the University of Ulster's Sutton database,[133] the UVF and RHC was responsible for 481 killings during "the Troubles", between 1969 and 2001. He was the first RUC officer to be killed during the Troubles. tippah county news. The gang comprised, in addition to the UVF, rogue elements of the UDR, RUC, SPG, and the regular Army, all acting allegedly under the direction of British Military Intelligence and/or RUC Special Branch. [24] On 21 May, the group issued a statement: From this day, we declare war against the Irish Republican Army and its splinter groups. for a proxy bomb attack targeting a "peace-building" event in Belfast where Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney was speaking. [49] 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%). [91], In July 2011, a UVF flag flying in Limavady was deemed legal by the PSNI after the police had received complaints about the flag from nationalist politicians. [92] There were also reports that UVF members fired shots at police lines during a protest. townhomes for rent in pg county. "The untouchable informers facing exposure at last". It would continue these tactics for the rest of its campaign. It comprises high-ranking officers under a Chief of Staff or Brigadier-General. The group had been proscribed in July 1966, but this ban was lifted on 4 April 1974 by Merlyn Rees, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, in an effort to bring the UVF into the democratic process. [120] However, from 1977 bombs largely disappeared from the UVF's arsenal owing to a lack of explosives and bomb-makers, plus a conscious decision to abandon their use in favour of more contained methods. The civil rights movement sought to end discrimination against Catholics by the Protestant and Unionist-dominated government of Northern Ireland. On 7 May 1966, loyalists petrol bombed a Catholic-owned pub in the loyalist Shankill area of Belfast. [30] There were bombings on 30 March, 4 April, 20 April, 24 April and 26 April. In 1990 the UVF joined the Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC) and indicated its acceptance of moves towards peace. Since the ceasefire, the UVF has been involved in rioting, drug dealing, organised crime, loan-sharking and prostitution. All were widely blamed on the IRA, and British soldiers were sent to guard installations. (2006) "Neglected Intelligence: How the British Government Failed to Quell the Ulster Volunteer Force, 19121914. [128], The UVF have been implicated in drug dealing in areas from where they draw their support. 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, killing five civilians. [10] Other times, attacks on Catholic civilians were claimed as "retaliation" for IRA actions, since the IRA drew most of its support from the Catholic community. John Harbinson, a Protestant handcuffed and beaten to death by a UVF gang on the Mount Vernon estate in north Belfast in May 1997 Catholic workmen Eamon Fox, 44 , a father of six, and Gary. According to the Belfast Telegraph, "70 separate police intelligence reports implicating the north Belfast UVF man in dealing cannabis, Ecstasy, amphetamines and cocaine. [54] This was endorsed by Gusty Spence, who issued a statement asking all UVF volunteers to support the new regime. [40] These were all subordinate to the Brigade Staff. The UVF made strenuous efforts to enrol its members and in many places the RIC openly appealed to UVF members to join. During this time he restructured the organisation into brigades, battalions, companies, platoons and sections. The UVF killed four men in Belfast and trouble ended only when the LVF announced that it was disbanding in October of that year. Unable to find their target, the men drove around the Falls district in search of a Catholic. It claimed the pubs were used for republican fundraising. According to the Belfast Telegraph, "70 separate police intelligence reports implicating the north Belfast UVF man in dealing cannabis, Ecstasy, amphetamines and cocaine. The group concluded a general acceptance of the need to decommission, though there was no conclusive proof of moves towards this end. 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