Ulster Protestant Action (UPA) was an
Ulster loyalist political party and
Protestant fundamentalist vigilante group in
Northern Ireland that was founded in 1956 and reformed as the
Protestant Unionist Party in 1966.
Founding
The group was founded at a special meeting at the
Ulster Unionist Party's (UUP) offices in Glengall Street,
Belfast, in 1956. Among the attendees were many loyalists who were to become major figures in the 1960s and 1970, such as
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 ...
and
Desmond Boal. The independent
unionist MP
Norman Porter
Norman Porter was a loyalist politician in Northern Ireland.
A lay preacher, an Orangeman, an Apprentice Boy and a member of the Royal Black Institution,Paul Bew,Good Friday man?, ''Times Online'' Porter became the leader of the National Un ...
also attended, but took no further part in the group.
The meeting's declared purpose was to organise the defence of
Ulster Protestant areas against anticipated
Irish Republican Army (IRA) activity, based on the old
Ulster Protestant Association immediately after the
partition of Ireland in 1920. The new body decided to call itself "Ulster Protestant Action", and the first year of its existence was taken up with the discussion of vigilante patrols, street barricades, and drawing up lists of IRA suspects in Belfast and rural areas.
The initial executive of the UPA consisted of
John McQuade,
Billy Spence
Billy Spence (died 1980) was a loyalist activist in Northern Ireland. A native of the Shankill Road area of Belfast, Spence was a leading figure with both Ulster Protestant Action and the Ulster Volunteer Force.
Early life
Born in Belfast, Spen ...