Ulster Volunteer Force
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The Ulster Volunteer Force (more commonly referred to as the UVF) is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. The current incarnation was formed in May 1966 and named after the UVF of 1912, although there is no direct connection between the two.
The original Ulster Volunteer Force
The original UVF was formed by Edward Carson and James Craig as a Unionist militia in the tensions surrounding the potential success of the third Home Rule campaign. Some contemporary estimates put its membership at over 100,000. Carson and Craig, supported by some English Conservative politicians, threatened to establish a Provisional government in Ulster should the province be included in any Home Rule settlement. Over half a million people signed a Solemn League and Covenant (or Ulster Covenant). Thousands of German rifles were landed at Larne, but the authorities did not intervene (see Larne gunrunning). During this time the unionists enjoyed the wholehearted support of the British Conservative Party, even when threatening rebellion against the British government. The home rule issue was put on hold by the outbreak of World War I. Many UVF men enlisted, mostly with the British 36th (Ulster) Division. The division suffered heavy casualties in July 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. Northern Ireland was established by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which many Ulstermen saw as a reward for their loyal service during the war. Certain remnants of the group reformed in 1920 and were used as special constables (B-Specials).
Current organisation
The current UVF formed to fight the IRA in the mid 1960s. The group was concentrated around East Antrim, County Armagh and the Shankill district of Belfast. The murder of a Belfast barman (because of his religion) in June 1966 led to the first leader of the group, Augustus 'Gusty' Spence, being arrested and sentenced to 20 years. The UVF was also responsible for a series of attacks on utilities installations in 1969, in the expectation that the IRA would be blamed and unionists would become even more strongly opposed to the tentative reforms of Terence O'Neill's government. These attacks were carried out in conjunction with the Ulster Protestant Volunteers, another paramilitary organisation, which had been established by the Reverend Ian Paisley. Many men were members of both groups. A bomb in a Belfast bar that killed fifteen people in December 1971 was attributed to the UVF.
The group was proscribed in July 1966, but this was lifted in April 1974 in an effort to bring the UVF into the democratic process. The UVF spurned the government efforts and a subset of the UVF dubbed the Shankill Butchers demonstrated their feelings. Another 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 May 17, 1974 when 33 people were killed and it was certainly to blame for the October 2, 1974 deaths of twelve civilians as well as a number of other attacks, including the Miami Showband massacre. The organisation was banned again on October 3 and two days later 26 suspected UVF members were arrested in a series of raids. The men were tried and in March 1977, and they were sentenced to an average of 25 years each. In the 1980s the UVF was greatly reduced by a series of informers, starting in 1983 with 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.
The UVF joined the Combined Loyalist Military Command in 1990 and indicated its acceptance of moves towards peace. The UVF agreed to a ceasefire in October 1994. More militant members of the UVF 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 30 people since its 1994 ceasefire, most of them Protestants. The feud between the UVF and the LVF erupted again in the summer of 2005, and is ongoing.
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 recognized the UVF ceasefire. [1]
The strength of the UVF is uncertain. It peaked in the early 1970s at possibly over 1,000 but its current strength is around 150 activists - those members prepared to carry out its attacks. The UVF weaponry is limited to small arms, with its sporadic bombing efforts being made using stolen quarrying explosives.
The Red Hand Commandos 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.
The UVF has committed more killings than any other loyalist paramilitary organisation. According to the University of Ulster's Sutton database [2], the UVF was responsible for 426 killings during the Troubles. 358 of its victims were civilians, 41 were loyalist paramilitaries (including 29 members of the UVF itself), 6 were British army or police and just 21 were republican paramilitaries.
The Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) is the political group most closely reflecting the views of the UVF. They have one member in the Northern Ireland Assembly. 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.