Within days that ‘army’ had been unveiled - it was called Ulster Resistance, and was known for its distinctive red berets. It was formally launched at a packed Ulster Hall in Belfast, complete with colour party and organisation standards.
Earlier, in his News Letter interview with me, Dr Paisley said:
I appeal for the mobilisation of the Ulster people. At the moment, structures are being set up for that mobilisation. I will also be advocating the enlistment of the Northern Ireland people in a show of strength - dedicated to die if needs be rather than surrender to a united Ireland.
Initially, it seemed the soon to be formally launched Ulster Resistance paramilitary group would be a mirror image of the earlier loyalist group, The Ulster Third Force, established in late 1981.
As a freelance BBC NI journalist at that time, I got the exclusive story on the Third Force’s show of strength in the Co Antrim villages of Kells and Connor in early November 1981.
If we take the renowned chronicle of victims of the Troubles, Lost Lives, as a benchmark, there is no record of either the Third Force or Ulster Resistance carrying out a murder.
Whilst in the early stages, the DUP - and especially Dr Paisley personally - publicly voiced their support for Ulster Resistance, that backing essentially evaporated once it became clear the group actually had access to a significant arsenal of weapons.
Whilst in the early stages, the DUP - and especially Dr Paisley personally - publicly voiced their support for Ulster Resistance, that backing essentially evaporated once it became clear the group actually had access to a significant arsenal of weapons.
The late state agent, Brian Nelson, was a key player in getting a massive haul of weapons smuggled into Northern Ireland to be divided equally among the UDA, UVF and Ulster Resistance.
Although much of the consignment destined for the UDA and UVF was found over the years, mystery still surrounds where much of the Ulster Resistance haul ended up.
Was it found? Was it given to other loyalist terror gangs, or is it still in so-called ‘safe places’ as there is no formal record of Ulster Resistance decommissioning its arsenal as part of the peace process?
In terms of who actually was a member or activist in Ulster Resistance four decades ago, given on and off the record interviews I had with journalistic sources inside the organisation in North and East Antrim, the membership seems to fall into two distinct categories.
The first group were people, who like those who were involved with the earlier Third Force, just wanted to be ‘mobilised’ into some form of organisation, but would not have the religious fervour to allow themselves to become active gunmen or bombers. They seemed to see themselves as some form of ‘doomsday’ outfit in the event of Irish unity.
In terms of who actually was a member or activist in Ulster Resistance four decades ago, given on and off the record interviews I had with journalistic sources inside the organisation in North and East Antrim, the membership seems to fall into two distinct categories.
The first group were people, who like those who were involved with the earlier Third Force, just wanted to be ‘mobilised’ into some form of organisation, but would not have the religious fervour to allow themselves to become active gunmen or bombers. They seemed to see themselves as some form of ‘doomsday’ outfit in the event of Irish unity.
The other faction were dedicated terrorists, who would have been prepared to use the weapons brought in from South Africa to carry out attacks on the republican community and the Republic of Ireland.
However, the publicity surrounding the so-called Paris Three and the DUP distancing itself from Ulster Resistance ‘persuaded’ them not to take up the gun in defence of Northern Ireland’s place in the Union.
In this respect, Ulster Resistance resembled an even earlier fundamentalist Protestant paramilitary group known as Tara, which was run by the late William McGrath, the convicted paedophile at the centre of the Kincora Boys Home scandal in east Belfast.
The Tara group also seemed to be a loyalist ‘doomsday’ group which would only activate its terrorist activities in the event of a united Ireland. Again, taking Lost Lives as a benchmark, there is no known record of Tara claiming responsibility for murdering anyone in the Troubles.
This begs the question - are Ulster Resistance weapons rusting away somewhere under the floorboards in someone’s home? Could a situation ever arise that they could be used (if they are usable some decades after they were brought into the Province) in the event of Unionism losing a border poll?
During the recruitment period for Ulster Resistance in the late Eighties, I had an off the record conversation with a representative of the movement. He was a former member of the security forces who alleged he was recruited by Ulster Resistance because of his knowledge of explosives.
A few years later when I was deputy editor of the Larne Guardian weekly newspaper, I got an exclusive interview with the so-called commander of Ulster Resistance’s East Antrim brigade, who again emphasised in the published interview that the group was receiving assistance from the security forces.
This has fed into the whole debate about allegations of collusion between the security forces and loyalist paramilitaries. As one of the researchers for the controversial Channel Four Dispatches programme, The Committee, which was broadcast in October 1991, footage of the Ulster Hall recruitment rally for Ulster Resistance was used.
Indeed, was the arms cache brought into Northern Ireland for Ulster Resistance merely a lever to put pressure on the British and Irish governments to take a more firm hand militarily against republican terrorists. Was the message to these two governments from that specific element in loyalism merely to say - if you can’t do the job against the IRA and INLA, we have the manpower and resources to do it!
Indeed, was the arms cache brought into Northern Ireland for Ulster Resistance merely a lever to put pressure on the British and Irish governments to take a more firm hand militarily against republican terrorists. Was the message to these two governments from that specific element in loyalism merely to say - if you can’t do the job against the IRA and INLA, we have the manpower and resources to do it!
Was there also the danger in the aftermath of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement that Ulster Resistance weaponry could be used against pro-Agreement Unionists linked to the UUP? The Belfast Agreement saw some very bitter divisions emerge in Unionism between the Yes and No camps.
One of the anti-Agreement militant groups which emerged in the late 1990s was the so-called Orange Volunteers. Ironically, there was a group of the same name which was active in the Seventies, but this original group was largely seen as defunct by the time of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in April 1998.
I recall on one occasion the Nineties version of the Orange Volunteers threatening my late father, Rev Dr Robert Coulter MBE, who was a UUP MLA for North Antrim for 13 years and in the pro-Agreement camp in the party.
One evening, two men came to my parents’ home and shouted into the front door intercom that they were from the Orange Volunteers and that my dad was to be shot. But the two ‘volunteers’ made a hasty retreat when they believed they were being filmed!
The badges which adorned the Ulster Resistance red berets may now be collectors’ items, but to quote the headline on a feature I wrote in January 2006 in the Irish Daily Star to mark the 20th anniversary of the formation of Ulster Resistance - ‘So where are the loyalist weapons?’
Another two decades on from that feature, the question of the location of the remaining Ulster Resistance weapons is still as relevant in 2026 as it was 20 years ago.
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| Follow Dr John Coulter on Twitter @JohnAHCoulter Dr Coulter has been a journalist since 1978 and is currently a political commentator with GB News. |
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