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Ulster Protestant Volunteers
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Ulster Protestant Volunteers
The Ulster Protestant Volunteers (UPV) were a loyalist and Reformed fundamentalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. They were active between 1966 and 1969 and closely linked to the Ulster Constitution Defence Committee (UCDC) and Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). The UPV were led by Noel Doherty under the overall control of the Rev. Ian Paisley.
The organisation's inaugural meeting took place in Belfast's Ulster Hall. In the spring of 1966, members bombed an all-girls primary school in Ardoyne, where talks to better relations between Protestants and Catholics were to take place. In May of that year the group murdered a 70-year-old, Matilda Gould, a Protestant whom UPV men mistook for a Catholic living next door. Shortly after this, the UVF and UPV took part in the killings of two Catholic men not far from the scene of the first attack. Following the 1967 trial of the UVF's leader Gusty Spence, the two groups were classified as illegal organisations. Paisley split from the UPV at this time.
In the spring of 1969, the UPV took part in a bombing campaign across Belfast. The series of bombings took place on 30 March, 4 April, 20 April, 24 and 26 April. These attacks targeted electricity substations that would remove power from the east and south parts of Belfast. Other attacks targeted the water supply. A separate bombing was also planned to target a hydroelectric plant in Ballyshannon. As a result, Irish troops moved toward the border alongside ambulances, and British troops moved into the area as well. The UPV was also involved in the RTÉ Studio bombing on 5 August 1969.[citation needed]
Shortly after the failed attack in Ballyshannon, a message was issued by the groups:
"We wish to state that an active service unit from Northern Ireland was dispatched to undertake this task. So long as the threats from Éire continue, so long will the Volunteers of Ulster’s People’s Army strike at targets in Southern Ireland."
Several attacks followed, including ones in Bodenstown and Dublin.
In April 1970, the UPV called off a march through Derry city centre celebrating the victories of Ian Paisley and William Beattie in the Northern Ireland Parliament by-election. That same month Sir Arthur Young, Inspector General of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), cancelled a meeting with the 2nd Lagan Valley division of the UPV for picketing police headquarters in advance of the meeting.
In July 1971 the South Londonderry Division of the UPV warned that the "Loyalist people of Northern Ireland would soon be left with no alternative but to take the law into their own hands." In October 1971 the UPV called on Unionist MPs to vote against entering the European Economic Community, claiming that membership would curtail the UK's sovereignty and threaten Northern Ireland's place in the UK.
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Ulster Protestant Volunteers
The Ulster Protestant Volunteers (UPV) were a loyalist and Reformed fundamentalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. They were active between 1966 and 1969 and closely linked to the Ulster Constitution Defence Committee (UCDC) and Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). The UPV were led by Noel Doherty under the overall control of the Rev. Ian Paisley.
The organisation's inaugural meeting took place in Belfast's Ulster Hall. In the spring of 1966, members bombed an all-girls primary school in Ardoyne, where talks to better relations between Protestants and Catholics were to take place. In May of that year the group murdered a 70-year-old, Matilda Gould, a Protestant whom UPV men mistook for a Catholic living next door. Shortly after this, the UVF and UPV took part in the killings of two Catholic men not far from the scene of the first attack. Following the 1967 trial of the UVF's leader Gusty Spence, the two groups were classified as illegal organisations. Paisley split from the UPV at this time.
In the spring of 1969, the UPV took part in a bombing campaign across Belfast. The series of bombings took place on 30 March, 4 April, 20 April, 24 and 26 April. These attacks targeted electricity substations that would remove power from the east and south parts of Belfast. Other attacks targeted the water supply. A separate bombing was also planned to target a hydroelectric plant in Ballyshannon. As a result, Irish troops moved toward the border alongside ambulances, and British troops moved into the area as well. The UPV was also involved in the RTÉ Studio bombing on 5 August 1969.[citation needed]
Shortly after the failed attack in Ballyshannon, a message was issued by the groups:
"We wish to state that an active service unit from Northern Ireland was dispatched to undertake this task. So long as the threats from Éire continue, so long will the Volunteers of Ulster’s People’s Army strike at targets in Southern Ireland."
Several attacks followed, including ones in Bodenstown and Dublin.
In April 1970, the UPV called off a march through Derry city centre celebrating the victories of Ian Paisley and William Beattie in the Northern Ireland Parliament by-election. That same month Sir Arthur Young, Inspector General of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), cancelled a meeting with the 2nd Lagan Valley division of the UPV for picketing police headquarters in advance of the meeting.
In July 1971 the South Londonderry Division of the UPV warned that the "Loyalist people of Northern Ireland would soon be left with no alternative but to take the law into their own hands." In October 1971 the UPV called on Unionist MPs to vote against entering the European Economic Community, claiming that membership would curtail the UK's sovereignty and threaten Northern Ireland's place in the UK.