During 1970, 42 Catholic-owned licensed premises in Protestant areas were bombed. The Irish Army set up field hospitals near the border. In February it began to target critics of militant loyalism the homes of MPs Austin Currie, Sheelagh Murnaghan, Richard Ferguson and Anne Dickson were attacked with improvised bombs. [40] These were all subordinate to the Brigade Staff. They were blamed by the PSNI on members of the UVF, who also said UVF guns had been used to try to kill police officers. [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. page 1. http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/politics/docs/imc/imc200404.pdf, http://www.vilaweb.cat/media/attach/vwedts/docs/op_banner_analysis_released.pdf, http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/politics/docs/imc/imc240505.pdf, http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/article2187547.ece, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4379973.stm, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4244082.stm, http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/organ/porgan.htm, CAIN University of Ulster Conflict Archive, May 1966 present (ended armed campaign in May 2007), Unnamed Chief of Staff (1974 October 1975). [130], Prior to and after the onset of the Troubles the UVF carried out armed robberies. MRF teams operated in plain clothes and civilian vehicles, equipped with pistols . Hello, Liveops. [95][96], In October 2013, the policing board announced that the UVF was still heavily involved in gangsterism despite its ceasefire. [94][95], In October 2013, the policing board announced that the UVF was still heavily involved in gangsterism despite its ceasefire. Such retaliation was seen as both collective punishment and an attempt to weaken the IRA's support; it was thought that 'fear of retaliation' would make the Catholic community rein in the IRA. [121][122] The UVF did not return to regular bombings until the early 1990s when it obtained a quantity of the mining explosive Powergel. They are wearing part of the UVF uniform which earned them their nickname "Blacknecks". Mark Davenport from the BBC has stated that he spoke to a drug dealer who told him that he paid Billy Wright protection money. [50] 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 story of former UVF member Alistair Little. From late 1975 to mid-1977, a unit of the UVF dubbed the Shankill Butchers (a group of UVF men based on Belfast's Shankill Road) carried out a series of sectarian murders of Catholic civilians. [citation needed] The feud between the UVF and the LVF erupted again in the summer of 2005. [108], The UVF's stated goal was to combat Irish republicanism particularly the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and maintain Northern Ireland's status as part of the United Kingdom. [150], The UVF have been implicated in drug dealing in areas from where they draw their support. CAIN also states that republicans killed 15 UVF members, some of whom are suspected to have been set up for assassination by their colleagues. They managed to procure a large cache of weapons and ammunition including self-loading rifles, Browning pistols, and Sterling submachine guns. Some of them left much of Belfast without power and water. The UVF spurned the government efforts however and continued killing. [30] There were bombings on 30 March, 4 April, 20 April, 24 April and 26 April. 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. 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. The UVF has killed more people than any other loyalist paramilitary group. [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". He was shot dead by the IRA in November 1982, four months after his release from the Maze Prison. [citation needed], On 26 March 2022, the UVF was linked to a hoax bomb alert at a bar in Warrenpoint, County Down. [127] A British Army report released in 2006 estimated a peak membership of 1,000. Their weapons stock-piles are to be retained under the watch of the UVF leadership. The largest death toll was on 3 March 1991 when the UVF 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. Another loyalist paramilitary organisation called Ulster Resistance was formed on 10 November 1986. There are various credible[citation needed] allegations that elements of the British security forces colluded with the UVF in the bombings. [110], Prior to and after the onset of the Troubles the UVF carried out armed robberies. On 8 March, a group of ex-Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteers planted a bomb that destroyed Nelson's Pillar in Dublin. [71], 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. 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. The Special Constabulary was divided into three groups: A-Specials, who were full-time . Loyalists were successful in importing arms into Northern Ireland. UVF: Behind the Mask is the gripping and shocking history of the Ulster Volunteer Force, from the formation of its post-1965 incarnation up to the present day. It was the UVF's deadliest attack in Northern Ireland, and the deadliest attack in Belfast during the Troubles. ", "Ulster Volunteer Force is no longer on ceasefire, police warn", "Gary Haggarty: Ex-senior loyalist pleads guilty to 200 terror charges", "Police seize drugs and arrest 11 during raids on east Belfast UVF", "Nine men charged after east Belfast UVF police raids", "Brexit: loyalist paramilitary groups renounce Good Friday agreement", "NI riots: What is behind the violence in Northern Ireland? Uvf members list 2020 tt mm gw ux dk tb kp pg ru co cg wq ki xl sw mb vr kk tl bg qu sj we we wu as bx cq fb ki ru nv wh de xy ic [14] Members were trained in bomb-making and it developed home-made explosives. [82] 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. The first British soldier to be killed by the Provisional IRA died in February 1971. [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". [73], On 2 September 2006, BBC News reported the UVF might be intending to re-enter dialogue with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, with a view to decommissioning of their weapons. [13][14][15][16][17] The other main loyalist paramilitary group during the conflict was the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), which had a much larger membership. [21] Spence later wrote "At the time, the attitude was that if you couldn't get an IRA man you should shoot a Taig, he's your last resort". "The Dublin and Monaghan bombings: Cover-up and incompetence". [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. [42] Both the UVF and the British Government have denied the claims. On 17 February 1979, the UVF carried out its only major attack in Scotland, when its members bombed two pubs in Glasgow frequented by Catholics. It would continue these tactics for the rest of its campaign. The first Independent Monitoring Commission report in April 2004 described the UVF/RHC as "relatively small" with "a few hundred" active members "based mainly in the Belfast and immediately adjacent areas". In 1972, the UVF's imprisoned leader Gusty Spence was at liberty for four months following a staged kidnapping by UVF volunteers. Known IRA men will be executed mercilessly and without hesitation. Formed in 1965,[7] it first emerged in 1966. Known IRA men will be executed mercilessly and without hesitation. [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%). [104] The Brigade Staff's former headquarters were situated in rooms above "The Eagle" chip shop located on the Shankill Road at its junction with Spier's Place. Jim Hanna (1973 - April 1974) [102] Hanna . Scholarships. In October 1975, after staging a counter-coup, the Brigade Staff acquired a new leadership of moderates with Tommy West serving as the Chief of Staff. The UVF was also clashing with the UDA in the summer of 2000. A controlled explosion was carried out and the bomb was later declared a hoax. [154] It was around this time that Sunday World journalists Martin O'Hagan and Jim Campbell coined the term "rat pack" for the UVF's murderous mid-Ulster unit and, unable to identify Wright by name for legal reasons, they christened him "King Rat." [148][149] These shipments were considered enough for the UVF/UDA to wage its campaign, most of which were used to kill its victims. Fifty-year old Stockman was stabbed more than 15 times in a supermarket in the Greater Shankill area; the attack was believed to have been linked to the Moffett killing. During 1970, 42 Catholic-owned licensed premises in Protestant areas were bombed. But it was destroyed because the loyalist is a Special Branch agent, it has . [125], The UVF has killed more people than any other loyalist paramilitary group. Mr Jameson's murder has been linked to a long-standing loyalist feud in mid-Ulster, involving members of the LVF and UVF. [36] It also continued its attacks in the Republic of Ireland, bombing the Dublin-Belfast railway line, an electricity substation, a radio mast, and Irish nationalist monuments. [21] The shootings led to Spence's being sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommended minimum sentence of twenty years. "The untouchable informers facing exposure at last". Captain Robert Nairac of 14 Intelligence Company was alleged to have been involved in many acts of UVF violence. The British Army were deployed on the streets of Northern Ireland. [32][33] There were further attacks in the Republic between October and December 1969. Three men out of the ten-man UVF unit were later convicted of the murders; Thomas Crozier and James McDowell were serving soldiers of the 11th Battalion UDR, and John James Somerville (brother of Wesley) was a former member of the regiment. This was a general strike in protest against the Sunningdale Agreement, which meant sharing political power with Irish nationalists and the Republic having more involvement in Northern Ireland. [89][90] A dissident Republican was arrested for "the attempted murder of police officers in east Belfast" after shots were fired upon the police. "FIFTH REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT MONITORING COMMISSION", "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=1133709414, 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, 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). 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