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Ulster Special Constabulary Association
The Ulster Special Constabulary Association (USCA) was a loyalist group active in Northern Ireland during the early 1970s. The group was established following the dissolution of the Ulster Special Constabulary (commonly known as the B Specials) and operated with a semi-paramilitary structure. It initially began as a series of unrelated small groups of former B Specials who maintained contact before eventually crystallising into a formal vigilante group. The group was able to call upon as many as 10,000 members upon its formation in 1970.W.D. Flackes & Sydney Elliott, ''Northern Ireland A Political Directory 1968-1993'', The Blackstaff Press, 1994, p. 336 Initially it functioned mainly as a pressure group, demanding the introduction of tougher laws against the Irish Republican Army as well as a return to a more localised form of policing as typified by the B Specials. Soon however it became more closely associated with existing Ulster loyalist paramilitary groups. George Green was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ulster Special Constabulary
The Ulster Special Constabulary (USC; commonly called the "B-Specials" or "B Men") was a quasi-military reserve special constable police force in what would later become Northern Ireland. It was set up in October 1920, shortly before the partition of Ireland. It was an armed corps, organised partially on military lines and called out in times of emergency, such as war or insurgency. It performed this role most notably in the early 1920s during the Irish War of Independence and the 1956-1962 IRA Border Campaign. During its existence, 95 USC members were killed in the line of duty. Most of these (72) were killed in conflict with the IRA in 1921 and 1922. Another 8 died during the Second World War, in air raids or IRA attacks. Of the remainder, most died in accidents but two former officers were killed during the Troubles in the 1980s. The force was almost exclusively Ulster Protestant and as a result was viewed with great mistrust by Catholics. It carried out several revenge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orange Volunteers (1972)
The Orange Volunteers (OV) was a loyalist vigilante group with a paramilitary structure active in Northern Ireland during the early 1970s. It took its name from the Orange Order, from which it drew the bulk of its membership. Formation The group was established in or 1972 as a paramilitary movement for members of the Orange Order.Steve Bruce, ''The Red Hand'', Oxford University Press, 1992, p. xi Members met in Orange Halls and were drawn exclusively from the Orange Order. Many of its members had previously served in the British Army. Full details of its early membership are sketchy, although its strength was estimated at between 200 and 500 members, most of whom were concentrated in East Belfast and Sandy Row, with some outlying groups in North Down and East Antrim. The group also had a presence in West Belfast in the Shankill Road area. The group was close to the Ulster Vanguard and provided security at some of its rallies, a task usually undertaken by the Vanguard Service Corps ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paramilitary Organisations Based In Northern Ireland
A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carry out duties that a country's military or police forces are unable or unwilling to handle. Other organizations may be considered paramilitaries by structure alone, despite being unarmed or lacking a combat role. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definition, not a military, it is usually equivalent to a light infantry force in terms of strength, firepower, and organizational structure. Paramilitaries use "military" equipment (such as long guns and armored personnel carriers; usually military surplus resources), skills (such as battlefield medicine and bomb disposal), and tactics (such as urban warfare and close-quarters combat) that are compatible with their purpose, often combining them with skills from other relevant fields such a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ulster Service Corps
The Ulster Service Corps (USC) was a loyalist vigilante group with a paramilitary structure active in Northern Ireland in the late 1970s. Although short-lived it briefly had a sizeable membership. One of a number of small independent loyalist paramilitary groups active in the mid 1970s, alongside the Orange Volunteers, Ulster Volunteer Service Corps, Down Orange Welfare and the Ulster Special Constabulary Association (USCA), the USC was the largest of these minor groups.Steve Bruce, ''The Red Hand'', Oxford University Press, 1992, p. xii Made up of former members of the Ulster Special Constabulary it retained much of that organisation's structure and enjoyed strong support in some rural areas of Northern Ireland. Most of those who established the group had been members of the USCA, which had disbanded around a year before the establishment of the USC.Henry Patterson, Eric P. Kaufmann, ''Unionism and Orangeism in Northern Ireland Since 1945: The Decline of the Loyal Family'', Manches ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee
The Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee (ULCCC) was set up in 1974 in Belfast, Northern Ireland in the aftermath of the Ulster Workers Council Strike, to facilitate meetings and policy coordination between the Ulster Workers Council, loyalist paramilitary groups, and the political representatives of Ulster loyalism. Original version Seen as an important link between grassroots loyalism and more mainstream unionist politics, the ULCCC was chaired by Glenn Barr and met in the Belfast offices of the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party on a weekly basis. Replacing the earlier Ulster Army Council, it brought together representatives of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), Red Hand Commando, Vanguard Service Corps/Ulster Volunteer Service Corps, Down Orange Welfare (DOW), Loyalist Association of Workers and Orange Volunteers. Barr was soon replaced as chairman by John McKeague and the ULCCC took on the wider aim of preparing for the establishme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ian Paisley
Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, (6 April 1926 – 12 September 2014) was a Northern Irish loyalist politician and Protestant religious leader who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 1971 to 2008 and First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2007 to 2008. Paisley became a Protestant evangelical minister in 1946 and remained one for the rest of his life. In 1951 he co-founded the Reformed fundamentalist Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster and was its leader until 2008. Paisley became known for his fiery sermons and regularly preached anti-Catholicism, anti- ecumenism and against homosexuality. He gained a large group of followers who were referred to as Paisleyites. Paisley became involved in Ulster unionist/loyalist politics in the late 1950s. In the mid-late 1960s, he led and instigated loyalist opposition to the Catholic civil rights movement in Northern Ireland. This contributed to the outbreak of the Troubles in the late 1960s, a co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Craig (Northern Ireland Politician)
William "Bill" Craig (2 December 1924 – 25 April 2011) was a Northern Irish politician best known for forming the Unionist Vanguard movement. Biography Early life From Cookstown, County Tyrone, Craig was educated at Royal School Dungannon, Larne Grammar School and Queen's University Belfast. After serving in the Royal Air Force (as a Lancaster bomber rear gunner) during World War II, he became a solicitor. Politics He was active in the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and led the Ulster Young Unionist Council. He was elected to the Stormont Parliament in a by-election in 1960 for Larne, and became a Minister in 1963. He held several portfolios under Terence O'Neill, eventually as Minister for Home Affairs. His most notable action while in this office was to ban the march of Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association on 5 October 1968. He also accused the civil rights movement of being a political front for the IRA. On 11 December 1968, O'Neill dismissed Craig when he suspecte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Down Orange Welfare
Down Orange Welfare was an Ulster loyalist paramilitary vigilante group active in Northern Ireland during the 1970s. Operating in rural areas of County Down, the group faded after failing to win support away from larger groups such as the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). Founding The group was established in 1972 by its commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Brush and his deputy Herbert Heslip, both members of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). Claiming to be linked to the Orange Order, the group was said to have 5,000 trained activists, many of whom were serving members of the security forces and former members of the Ulster Special Constabulary, commonly referred to as the "B Specials". The group, which was highly conservative and élitist in nature, was strongest amongst the farming community of North Down.Peter Barberis, John McHugh, Mike Tyldesley, ''Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Groups and Movements of the 20t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ulster Volunteer Service Corps
The Ulster Volunteer Service Corps (UVSC) was an Ulster loyalist vigilante and paramilitary movement active in Northern Ireland during the early 1970s. Initially the steward group for the Ulster Vanguard (later the Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party), under the title ''Vanguard Service Corps'', it continued to exist after becoming independent of that movement. History The group was established as the paramilitary wing of the Ulster Vanguard in 1972, and wore a military-style uniform.Steve Bruce, ''The Red Hand'', Oxford University Press, 1992, p. xiv Its main role was to provide protection for Vanguard members whilst they were making speeches. Some members of the group were also known to be members of the Ulster Defence Regiment. Their presence was described as giving a "Mosleyite quality" to the Vanguard. According to loyalist activist Sam McClure, Service Corps membership was accompanied with a solemn swearing-in ceremony although David Trimble, a Vanguard activist, dismissed th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ulster Defence Association
The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalism, Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and Timeline of Ulster Defence Association actions, undertook an armed campaign of almost 24 years as one of the participants of the Troubles. Its declared goal was to defend Ulster Protestant loyalist areas and to combat Irish republicanism, particularly the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). In the 1970s, uniformed UDA members openly patrolled these areas armed with batons and held large marches and rallies. Within the UDA was a group tasked with launching paramilitary attacks that used the cover name Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) so that the UDA would not be outlawed. The British government proscription, proscribed the UFF as a terrorist group in November 1973, but the UDA itself was not proscribed until August 1992. The UDA/UFF were responsible for more than 400 deaths. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ulster Loyalism
Ulster loyalism is a strand of Ulster unionism associated with working class Ulster Protestants in Northern Ireland. Like other unionists, loyalists support the continued existence of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom, and oppose a united Ireland. Unlike other strands of unionism, loyalism has been described as an ethnic nationalism of Ulster Protestants and "a variation of British nationalism". Loyalists are often said to have a conditional loyalty to the British state so long as it defends their interests.Smithey, Lee. ''Unionists, Loyalists, and Conflict Transformation in Northern Ireland''. Oxford University Press, 2011. pp.56–58 They see themselves as loyal primarily to the Protestant British monarchy rather than to British governments and institutions, while Garret FitzGerald argued they are loyal to 'Ulster' over 'the Union'. A small minority of loyalists have called for an independent Ulster Protestant state, believing they cannot rely on British governments t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ulster Workers' Council Strike
The Ulster Workers' Council (UWC) strike was a general strike that took place in Northern Ireland between 15 May and 28 May 1974, during "the Troubles". The strike was called by unionists who were against the Sunningdale Agreement, which had been signed in December 1973. Specifically, the strikers opposed the sharing of political power with Irish nationalists, and the proposed role for the Republic of Ireland's government in running Northern Ireland. The strike was organised and overseen by the Ulster Workers' Council and Ulster Army Council, which were formed shortly after the Agreement's signing. Both of these groups included Ulster loyalist paramilitaries such as the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).Bloomfield, Ken. ''A tragedy of errors: the government and misgovernment of Northern Ireland''. Liverpool University Press, 2007. Page 46. These groups helped to enforce the strike by blocking roads and intimidating workers. During the two-week st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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