Ulster Resistance
Ulster Resistance (UR), or the Ulster Resistance Movement (URM), is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary movement established by Ulster loyalists in Northern Ireland on 10 November 1986 in opposition to the Anglo-Irish Agreement. Origins. Ulster Resistance was preceded by a number of attempts at forming paramilitary organisations by the DUP. In June 1976 DUP politician Peter Robinson approached Clifford Smyth, secretary of the United Ulster Unionist Council, with a suggestion for a DUP paramilitary wing but it never materialised. According to a senior Ulster Defence Association (UDA) figure, the paramilitary organisation was also contacted later that year by  a DUP member with a request for assistance in arming the DUP's new group. The DUP member particularly sought plans for home-made rocket launchers. This earlier attempt at a militant DUP force never materialised, although the United Unionist Action Council (UUAC), a sub-committee of the United Ulster Unionist Council, of which the DUP was the leading political party, had a semi-paramilitary wing already in the Ulster Service Corps (USC). The UDA, Down Orange Welfare, and the Orange Volunteers were also represented on the UUAC. The group was launched at a 3000-strong invitation-only meeting at  the Ulster Hall. The rally was chaired by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Press Officer Sammy Wilson and addressed by party colleagues Ian Paisley, Peter Robinson and Ivan Foster. Also on the platform was Alan Wright, the chairman of the Ulster Clubs. The launch rally was followed by a number of similar assemblies across Northern Ireland. Its aim were to "take direct action as and when required" to end the Anglo-Irish Agreement. At a rally in Enniskillen, Peter Robinson announced: "Thousands have already joined the movement and the task of shaping them into an effective force is continuing. The  Resistance has indicated that drilling and training has already started. The officers of the nine divisions have taken up their duties." Ivan Foster told a newspaper that Ulster Resistance had access to Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) intelligence and would use it to target and kill suspected members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). Alan Wright declared that Ulster Resistance would fight the British Army and RUC if the Anglo-Irish wasn't scrapped and could carry out armed incursions into the Republic of Ireland. At a rally in the Ulster Hall, Paisley spoke of a need for an extra -governmental Third Force to fight against the aims of Irish republicanism. He was then filmed dramatically placing a red beret on his head and standing to attention. DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson was also photographed wearing the militant loyalist paramilitary regalia of beret and military fatigues at an Ulster Resistance rally. A mass membership failed to materialise, but active groups were established in country areas such as County Armagh, attracting support from rural conservative Protestants. Organisation. Ulster Resistance was initially led by DUP party representatives Ian Paisley, Peter Robinson and Ivan Foster and Alan Wright, the chairman of the Ulster  Clubs, though the DUP's associations with the group were short-lived - the DUP severed its connections with UR in 1987. It was not part of the DUP and the later illegal activities some members became engaged in were done without DUP knowledge or approval. They were set up to have nine divisions, based on District Council areas, lead by a so-called "Commander". Below them were supposed to be battalions, companies, and platoons, but it is unclear whether this ever happened. The group claimed 12,000 members across Northern Ireland, mostly outside Belfast. Smaller Loyalist paramilitary organisations were taken in  under the Ulster Resistance umbrella; Ulster Special Constabulary Association whose presence was inspiration rather than practical, Down Orange Welfare, largely inactive, and the Orange Volunteers. Arms. Ivan Foster at the group's launch claimed that the organisation already had access to a substantial amount of legally-owned firearms. The group collaborated with the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), Red Hand Commando (RHC) and the UDA to procure arms. In June 1987 the UVF stole more than £300,000 from the Northern Bank in Portadown. The money was used to buy 206 Vz. 58 assault rifles, 94 Browning 9mm pistols, 4  RPG-7 rocket launchers and 62 warheads, 450 RGD-5 grenades and 30,000 rounds of ammunition which arrived at Belfast docks from Lebanon in December 1987. The weapons were then transported to a farm between Armagh and Portadown, to await collection by the three groups. On 8 January 1988, as they attempted to transport their share of the weapons from Portadown to Belfast in a convoy of three cars, the UDA's share was intercepted at a Royal Ulster Constabulary checkpoint. 61 assault rifles, 30 Brownings, 150 grenades and over 11,000 rounds of ammunition were seized and three UDA men arrested. Davy  Payne, the UDA's North Belfast Brigadier was sentenced to 19 years in prison and the two others to 14 years each. Noel Little, an Ulster Resistance member and former Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) soldier who was also the Armagh chairman of the Ulster Clubs, was arrested in connection with the find under the Prevention of Terrorism Act but released without charge. Part of the UVF's share was among weapons recovered in February 1988. A RPG7 rocket launcher with 26 warheads, 38 assault rifles, 15 Brownings, 100 grenades and 40,000 rounds of ammunition were found following searches in the  Upper Crumlin Road area of North Belfast. In November 1988, part of the Ulster Resistance share of the weapons was uncovered in police searches at a number of locations in County Armagh around Markethill, Hamiltonsbawn and in Armagh town. Among the items recovered was a RPG7 rocket launcher and 5 warheads, 3 assault rifles, a Browning pistol, 10 grenades, 12,000 rounds of ammunition and combat equipment. Also discovered in the arms caches were parts of a Javelin surface-to-air missile and a number of Ulster Resistance red berets. The DUP had severed its links with Ulster Resistance in 1987 . When the DUP were asked to condemn the Ulster Resistance in 2016 they repeated their opposition to any illegality carried out in its name, saying "the party's stance is consistent, that anyone involved in illegal activity should be investigated and face the full weight of the law." By 1988 the group had largely fizzled out as a mass membership organisation, but a small number of loyalists continuing to use the UR name became involved in helping loyalist terrorist groups. In September 1989, a 33-year-old man from Poyntzpass and a 35-year-old man from Tandragee were jailed  to nine and six years respectively for storing and moving weapons and explosives, claiming to be doing so on behalf of Ulster Resistance. In January 1990, a 32-year-old former member of the UDR from Richill was jailed for 12 years for possessing arms and explosives. In 2013, the group was reported to have acquired more modern weapons along with stocks that were already acquired. The weapons jointly imported by the rogue members of Ulster Resistance and the two main Loyalist paramilitary organisations were linked to over 70 murders, including the Greysteel massacre and the Loughinisland massacre. Ulster Resistance 's portion of the South African arms shipment was linked to numerous attacks by loyalist paramilitaries; already in 1988 a Browning pistol and grenades sourced from Ulster Resistance were used by Loyalist Michael Stone in the Milltown Cemetery attack. In the 1990s Willie Frazer, a "key figure" in the organisation, distributed assault rifles and rocket launchers from Ulster Resistance to the UDA. Missiles. The South African contacts who had helped set up the 1987 arms deal were also interested in trading guns for missile technology. In October 1988, a model of the Javelin missile aiming system was stolen from the  Short Brothers factory in Belfast, which had a mostly unionist workforce. A few months later, parts of a Blowpipe missile went missing and another Blowpipe was stolen from a Territorial Army base in Newtownards in April 1989. Arrests in Paris. Three members of the group — Noel Little, previously arrested in connection with the 1987 importation of arms, James King, a Free Presbyterian from Killyleagh, County Down and Samuel Quinn, a sergeant in the Territorial Army from Newtownards — were arrested at the Hilton Hotel, Paris on 21 April 1989. Also arrested were a diplomat from South Africa, Daniel Storm, and an  American arms dealer, Douglas Bernhart, leading to claims that the unionists were attempting to procure arms in return for missile technology from Short Brothers. The "Paris Three" were charged with arms trafficking and associating with criminals involved in terrorist activities. They were convicted in October 1991 after more than two years on remand. They received suspended sentences and fines ranging from £2,000 to £5,000. Aftermath. The "Sutton Index of Deaths" claims that two men killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) in October 1989 were members of Ulster Resistance. Thomas Gibson, a 27-year-old labourer and  part-time ambulance driver with the Territorial Army was shot dead in Kilrea, County Londonderry. Robert Metcalfe, the 40-year-old owner of an army surplus store in Lurgan was shot dead at his home in Magheralin, County Down. The families of both men denied that they had any connection with loyalist groups. After the Paris revelations, the group largely faded into the shadows, where they remain. A small group broke away, naming themselves Resistance. It is believed to have joined the Combined Loyalist Military Command, although it has long since faded. In a front-page article on 10 June  2007, the "Sunday Life" reported that Ulster Resistance were still active and armed. A statement released by the group claimed that it had "the capability and resources to strike with deadly force". A photo accompanying the article showed two masked men posing with automatic rifles beside a banner which read "Ulster Resistance C Division". It is reported that the organisation has continued to restructure and evolve since then, and that there are at least seven divisions/brigades in Northern Ireland at present, with another "support" brigade in Britain. In June 2017, following the United Kingdom general election, the DUP's  historic links with Ulster Resistance were discussed in the media in relation to the Conservative–DUP agreement. Emma Little-Pengelly, daughter of Noel Little of the "Paris Three", was elected MP for Belfast South in that election.