"C Company" redirects here. For the Bollywood movie, see C Kkompany.
Ulster Defence Association
Emblem of the Ulster Defence Association
Leaders
Charles Harding Smith (1971–1973)
Andy Tyrie (1973–1988)
John McMichael (Commander of the UFF until 1987)[1]
Inner Council: Jackie McDonald, Johnny Adair, Jim Gray, Andre Shoukri, James Simpson, South East Antrim Commander , Billy McFarland, Matt Kincaid[1]
Dates of operation
September 1971 – present (on ceasefire since October 1994; ended armed campaign in November 2007)
Group(s)
Ulster Young Militants (youth wing)
Headquarters
Belfast[2]
Active regions
Northern Ireland (mostly)
Republic of Ireland
England
Ideology
Ulster loyalism
Protestant extremism[3]
Irish unionism
Anti-Catholicism
Anti-Irish sentiment
Anti-Islam[4]
Ulster nationalism (briefly)
Size
40,000 at its peak (1972)
Over 5,000 at the end of its armed campaign [5]
5,000 (present)[6]
Allies
Loyalist Volunteer Force[7]
Red Hand Defenders (until 2002)[8]
Opponents
United Kingdom
British Army
Royal Ulster Constabulary
Republic of Ireland
Garda Síochána
Provisional Irish Republican Army
Irish National Liberation Army
Irish People's Liberation Organization
Irish republicans
Irish nationalists
Ulster Volunteer Force (2000–2002)
Battles and wars
The Troubles
Designated as a terrorist group by
United Kingdom
United States
Flag
The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary[9] group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups[10] and 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[10] 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 proscribed the UFF as a terrorist group in November 1973, but the UDA itself was not proscribed until August 1992.[11][12]
The UDA/UFF were responsible for more than 400 deaths. The vast majority of its victims were Irish Catholic civilians,[13][14][15] killed at random, in what the group called retaliation for IRA actions or attacks on Protestants.[16][17][18][19][20] High-profile attacks carried out by the group include the Top of the Hill bar shooting, the Milltown massacre, the Sean Graham's and James Murray's bookmakers' shootings, the Castlerock killings, killings of Paddy Wilson and Irene Andrews and the Greysteel massacre. Most of its attacks were in Northern Ireland, but from 1972 onward it also carried out bombings in the Republic of Ireland. The UDA/UFF declared a ceasefire in 1994 and ended its campaign in 2007, but some of its members have continued to engage in violence.[21] The other main Loyalist paramilitary group during the conflict was the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). All three groups are proscribed organisations in the United Kingdom under the Terrorism Act 2000.[11]
^ abDavid Lister and Hugh Jordan, Mad Dog: The Rise and Fall of Johnny Adair
^"How the RUC protected the UDA". Irish Times. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2019. On May 26th, 1981, the RUC searched UDA headquarters in Belfast ...
^N. J. Haagerup (1983–1984). "Report drawn up on behalf of the Political Affairs Committee on the situation in Northern Ireland" (PDF). European Parliament. European Communities. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 October 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
^"There is a high correlation between racist attacks and areas which are staunchly Loyalist and a traditional heartland for affiliation to prominent Loyalist paramilitary groups such as the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and Ulster Defence Association (UDA)".
^Organisations: U Archived 22 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine, CAIN
^"Loyalist paramilitary groups in NI 'have 12,500 members'". BBC News. 2 December 2020. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
^David Lister and Hugh Jordan Mad Dog: The Rise and Fall of Johnny Adair
^"UFF condemns death threats". BBC News. 15 January 2002. Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
^Mulholland, Marc. Northern Ireland: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press, 2002. p.80
^ ab"A history of the UDA". BBC News. 6 January 2010. Archived from the original on 26 July 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
^ ab"Proscribed terrorist groups or organisations". Home Office. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
^'A History of the UDA' BBC News. Retrieved 28 December 2021
^"Sutton Index of Deaths: Crosstabulations". Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN). Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2011. – choose "organisation" as First Variable and "status summary" as Second Variable
^Wright-Neville, David (2010). Dictionary of Terrorism. Polity. p. 194. Between the late 1960s and 2007, the UDA carried out more than 250 killings, the victims of which were mainly Catholic civilians.
^"Sutton Index of Deaths: Crosstabulations". Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN). Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2011. – choose "organisation" as First Variable and "religion summary" as Second Variable
^Nelson, Sarah (1984). Ulster's Uncertain Defenders: Loyalists and the Northern Ireland Conflict. Belfast: Appletree Press. pp. 117–127.
^McKittrick, David (20 January 1998). "Ireland: 'Many of Belfast's most deadly acronyms are now back in action". The Independent. Archived from the original on 20 October 2017.
^"Stevens Inquiry: Key people". 17 April 2003.
^"UK agents 'worked with NI paramilitary killers'". BBC News. 28 May 2015.
^"Pat Finucane murder: 'Shocking state collusion', says PM". BBC News. 12 December 2012.
^"UFF given the order to stand down". BBC News. 12 November 2007. Archived from the original on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
and 23 Related for: Ulster Defence Association information
The UlsterDefenceAssociation (UDA) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group...
This is a timeline of actions by the UlsterDefenceAssociation (UDA), a loyalist paramilitary group formed in 1971. Most of these actions took place during...
The UlsterDefence Regiment (UDR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army established in 1970, with a comparatively short existence ending in 1992...
conflict, loyalist paramilitaries such as the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and UlsterDefenceAssociation (UDA) often attacked Catholics, partly in retaliation...
merged with similar Ulster Loyalist groups elsewhere to form the UlsterDefenceAssociation. Peter Taylor, Loyalists, Bloomsbury, 2000, p. 45 Steve Bruce...
sitting on its six-man "brigade staff". According to a senior UlsterDefenceAssociation (UDA) figure, the paramilitary organisation was also contacted...
Independence has been supported by groups such as Ulster Third Way and some factions of the UlsterDefenceAssociation. However, it is a fringe view in Northern...
the Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party by the UlsterDefenceAssociation (UDA), to replace the New Ulster Political Research Group. The UDP name had previously...
The Ulster Young Militants (UYM) are considered to be the youth wing of the UlsterDefenceAssociation (UDA), an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in...
main loyalist paramilitary group during the conflict was the UlsterDefenceAssociation (UDA), which had a much larger membership. Since the ceasefire...
It was founded in early 2007 by former members of the UlsterDefenceAssociation (UDA) /Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF). They reportedly committed 24 attacks...
The Woodvale DefenceAssociation (WDA) was an Ulster loyalist vigilante group in the Woodvale district of Belfast, an area immediately to the north of...
nine people were killed (including two British soldiers and one UlsterDefenceAssociation (UDA) member) from two bombs while 130 were injured. 31 July –...
funeral of three Provisional IRA members killed in Gibraltar, an UlsterDefenceAssociation (UDA) member, Michael Stone, attacked the mourners with hand grenades...
cigars and cigarillos Code name used by the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), a part of the UlsterDefenceAssociation Black Captain This disambiguation page...
which were shared out between the URM, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the UlsterDefenceAssociation (UDA). Most, but not all, of the weaponry was...
within the UlsterDefenceAssociation (UDA) as the Deputy Commander and leader of its South Belfast Brigade. He was also commander of the "Ulster Freedom...
The IRA aimed to assassinate the leadership of the loyalist UlsterDefenceAssociation (UDA), supposedly attending a meeting above Frizzell's fish shop...
West Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF). This was a cover name used by the UlsterDefenceAssociation (UDA), a loyalist paramilitary...
2 August 1947) is a Northern Irish loyalist and the incumbent UlsterDefenceAssociation (UDA) brigadier for South Belfast, having been promoted to the...
anti-government faction in the Ugandan Bush War Ulster Freedom Fighters, paramilitary wing of the UlsterDefenceAssociation, a loyalist organisation in Northern...