Editing Ulster Defence Association (section)

==History==
The Ulster Defence Association emerged from a series of meetings during the middle of 1971 of [[Ulster loyalism|loyalist]] "[[vigilante]]" groups called "defence associations".<ref name=cain>{{cite web |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/organ/uorgan.htm |title=Cain web Service: Abstracts on Organisations |publisher=Cain.ulst.ac.uk |access-date=16 June 2010 |archive-date=22 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110222030139/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/organ/uorgan.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The largest of these were the [[Shankill Defence Association|Shankill]] and [[Woodvale Defence Association]]s,<ref>Steve Bruce, "Unionists and the Border", in Malcolm Anderson and Everhard Bort, ''The Irish border: history, politics, culture'', p.129</ref> with other groups based in East Belfast, Lower Shankill and Roden Street.<ref>Alan O'Day, ''Terrorism's laboratory: the case of Northern Ireland'', p.118</ref>

===UDA formation===
The first meeting, in September 1971, was chaired by [[Billy Hull]], with Alan Moon of the lower Shankill as its vice-chair. Moon was quickly replaced by Jim Anderson.<ref>Steve Bruce, ''The Red Hand'', p.50</ref><ref name=McDonald04>McDonald, Henry & Cusack, Jim (2004). ''The UDA – Inside the Heart of Loyalist Terror''. Dublin: Penguin Ireland.</ref>{{rp|20}} Moon, who had become reluctant to be involved in vigilantism since the group's formation, willingly stepped aside and ended his association with the UDA soon afterwards.<ref name=Bruce92>Steve Bruce, ''The Red Hand'', Oxford University Press, 1992</ref>{{rp|50}} The structure of this new movement soon took shape with a thirteen-man Security Council established in January 1972 as a reaction to a [[Provisional Irish Republican Army|Provisional IRA]] bomb the previous month at the [[1971 Balmoral Furniture Company bombing|Balmoral furniture showroom]] on the Shankill which killed four people including two infants.<ref name=McDonald04/>{{rp|22}}

By this point, [[Charles Harding Smith]] had become the group's leader, with former [[Royal Army Ordnance Corps]] soldier [[Davy Fogel]] as his second-in-command, who trained the new recruits in military tactics, the use of guns, and unarmed combat. Its most prominent early spokesperson was [[Tommy Herron]];<ref name=cain/> however, [[Andy Tyrie]] would emerge as leader soon after.<ref>H. McDonald and J. Cusack, ''UDA – Inside the Heart of Loyalist Terror'', Dublin, Penguin Ireland, 2004, pp. 64–65</ref> Its original motto was ''Cedenta Arma Togae'' ("Law before violence"<ref>{{cite book | last = McAuley  | first = James | title = Ulster Loyalism after the Good Friday Agreement | publisher = [[Palgrave Macmillan]] | year = 2011 | page = 20 | isbn = 978-0230228856}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last1 = McDonald | first1 = Henry | author-link1 = Henry McDonald (writer) | last2 = Cusack | first2 = Jim | title = UDA: Inside the Heart of Loyalist Terror | publisher = [[Penguin Ireland]] | year = 2004 | page = 64 | isbn = 978-1844880201}}</ref>) and it was a legal organisation until it was banned by the British government on 10 August 1992.<ref name=cain/> Under Smith's command, the UDA was organised along [[paramilitary]] lines into [[battalion]]s, [[Company (military unit)|companies]], [[platoon]]s and [[Section (military unit)|sections]].<ref name="Taylor99"/>{{rp|103}} The organisation drew more members, becoming the largest loyalist paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland. Unlike its principal rival, the [[Ulster Volunteer Force (1966)|Ulster Volunteer Force]] (UVF), the UDA was legal.

In April 1972, the organisation's leader, [[Charles Harding Smith]] and leading UDA member [[John White (loyalist)|John White]] were arrested in London for gun-trafficking.<ref name="Taylor99">Taylor, Peter (1999). ''Loyalists''. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.</ref>{{rp|103}}  A temporary ''de facto'' leadership assumed control and Anderson became the acting chairman of the UDA.<ref name="Taylor99"/>{{rp|103}}

At the end of May 1972, Fogel, by then the leader of B Company and Harding Smith's second-in-command, erected the first UDA roadblocks and street barricades, making Woodvale, the area under Fogel's command, a [[no-go area]].<ref name="wood8">Wood, Ian S. (2006). ''Crimes of loyalty: a history of the UDA''. Edinburgh University Press. p.8</ref> The operation attracted a great deal of media and press coverage, resulting in much publicity for the UDA.<ref name="wood8"/> [[British Army]] troops under the command of Major-General [[Robert Ford (British Army officer)|Robert Ford]] were sent to the area, where a stand-off with the UDA ensued. Leading UDA figures eventually entered into street negotiations with senior Army officers, where it was eventually agreed that the UDA could erect small temporary barriers in Loyalist neighbourhoods.<ref name=McDonald04/>{{rp|29}} That summer, the UDA marched through the streets of central Belfast in a massive demonstration of strength.

In December 1972, Harding Smith and White were acquitted and returned to Belfast. Immediately after their return, a fierce power struggle ensued after Harding Smith declared to his associates: "I'm the boss. I take orders from no one".<ref name=McDonald04/>{{rp|34}} Fogel was promptly ousted from the B Company command, while the formidable East Belfast brigadier, [[Tommy Herron]], appeared on the scene to challenge Harding Smith's leadership. Anderson became joint chairman of the UDA with Harding Smith.<ref name="Taylor99"/>{{rp|114}} The struggle that ensued between Harding Smith and Herron overshadowed the Inner Council and during the height of the feud Anderson often had to call a register at its meetings, so poor were the turnouts.<ref name=McDonald04/>{{rp|33}} Herron and Anderson became linked and the East Belfast brigadier took to styling himself as deputy leader to Anderson, whom he treated as sole chairman.<ref name=McDonald04/>{{rp|38}}

By spring 1973, however, Fogel had already returned to his native England, and Anderson decided to stand down.<ref name="Taylor99"/>{{rp|114}} He publicly announced his resignation as joint chairman in March 1973, in part because he was a fairly law-abiding individual who sat uneasily with violently chaotic figures like Harding Smith and Herron. It had been Anderson who had been one of the main thinkers behind the UDA's motto "Law Before Violence" although this was ditched shortly after his resignation in favour of "[[Quis separabit]]".<ref name=McDonald04/>{{rp|64}} As a compromise candidate between the rival factions of Harding Smith and Herron, [[Andy Tyrie]], commander of West Belfast Brigade's A Company, was chosen as the UDA's chairman. He would soon become the UDA's Supreme Commander, a position he held until an attempted car bombing brought about his retirement in March 1988.<ref name="Taylor99"/>{{rp|200}}

Early in its history the UDA was closely associated with the [[Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party|Vanguard]] movement led by [[William Craig (Northern Ireland politician)|William Craig]] and it was regularly described as the "military wing" of Vanguard.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Inside Ulster|url=https://bbcrewind.co.uk/asset/5b20d820fc632e002b63e847|website=BBC Rewind}}</ref> At a rally in Lisburn in February 1972, Craig inspected uniformed ranks of UDA members. Craig issued a warning during a rally at Ormeau Park the next month, where thousands of UDA men were present: "If the politicians fail us, it might become our responsibility to eliminate the enemy." However, by 1979 the UDA had turned on Craig over his increasingly conciliatory approach to Nationalists and condemnation of the [[Ulster Workers' Council|1977 loyalist strike]], leading the UDA to instead back [[Peter Robinson (Northern Ireland politician)|Peter Robinson]] in [[1979 United Kingdom general election|that year's general election]].<ref>{{cite news|title=William Craig|url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/ireland-world/article/william-craig-nlnsvbcxwm8|access-date=29 November 2022|work=[[The Times]]|language=en|archive-date=13 October 2021|archive-url=https://archive.today/20211013161930/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/william-craig-nlnsvbcxwm8#selection-845.453-845.694|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Membership===
[[File:UDA march 1972.jpg|thumb|right|250px|UDA members marching through Belfast city centre, mid-1972]]
At its peak of strength it held around forty thousand members, mostly part-time.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,11913,1055983,00.html | work=The Guardian | location=London | title=The downfall of Mad Dog Adair, part 2 | date=5 October 2003 | access-date=26 May 2010 | archive-date=29 December 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071229031540/http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,11913,1055983,00.html | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.arts.gla.ac.uk/Slavonic/staff/Rybar4.html |title=The Peace Process in Northern Ireland 2 |publisher=Arts.gla.ac.uk |access-date=16 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090625021351/http://www.arts.gla.ac.uk/Slavonic/staff/Rybar4.html |archive-date=25 June 2009}}</ref> During this period of legality, the UDA committed a large number of attacks using the name Ulster Freedom Fighters,<ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/49696.stm | work=BBC News | title=UFF involved in Ulster murders – police chief | access-date=26 May 2010 | archive-date=25 September 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925175220/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/49696.stm | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.meta-religion.com/Extremism/Political_extremism/ulster_defense_association.htm |title=Ulster Defense Association |publisher=Meta-religion.com |access-date=16 June 2010 |archive-date=21 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021093818/https://www.meta-religion.com/Extremism/Political_extremism/ulster_defense_association.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> including the murder of [[Social Democratic and Labour Party]] (SDLP) politician [[Paddy Wilson]] and his companion Irene Andrews in 1973.<ref>{{cite news |first=Rosie |last=Cowan |url=https://www.theguardian.com/Northern_Ireland/Story/0,2763,888432,00.html |title=The Guardian |newspaper=The Guardian |date=6 February 2003 |access-date=16 June 2010 |location=London |archive-date=23 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923161131/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/feb/04/northernireland.northernireland |url-status=live }}</ref> The UDA was involved in the successful [[Ulster Workers Council Strike]] in 1974, which brought down the [[Sunningdale Agreement]]: a power-sharing agreement for Northern Ireland, which some [[Unionism in Ireland|unionists]] thought conceded too much to [[Irish nationalism|nationalist]] demands. The UDA enforced this [[general strike]] through widespread intimidation across Northern Ireland. The strike was led by [[VUPP]] Assemblyman and UDA member, [[Glenn Barr]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Taylor | first = Peter | author-link = Peter Taylor (Journalist) | title = Loyalists | publisher = [[Bloomsbury Publishing]] | year= 1999 | pages = 128–131 | isbn = 0-7475-4519-7}}</ref>

The UDA were often referred to by the nickname "Wombles" by their rivals, mainly the [[Ulster Volunteer Force]] (UVF). The nickname is derived from the furry fictional children's TV creatures [[The Wombles]], and was given to the UDA because many of its members wore fur-trimmed [[Snorkel parka|parka]]s.<ref name="nelson179">Sarah Nelson (1984). ''Ulster's Uncertain Defenders: Protestants Political, Paramilitary and Community Groups and the Northern Ireland Conflict''. Belfast: Appletree Press, p.179</ref> Its headquarters is in Gawn Street, off the [[Newtownards Road]] in east Belfast,<ref>Murphy, Dervla (1978). ''[[A Place Apart]]''. Great Britain: [[Penguin Books]]. p.150</ref> and its current motto is ''[[Quis separabit?|Quis Separabit]]'', which is [[Latin]] for "Who will separate [us]?".

=== Women's units ===
The UDA had several women's units, which were independent of each other.<ref name="taylor">Taylor, p.136</ref><ref name="mcevoy12">McEvoy, p.12</ref> Although they occasionally helped staff roadblocks, the women's units were typically involved in local community work and responsible for the assembly and delivery of food parcels to UDA prisoners. This was a source of pride for the UDA.<ref name="mcevoy16">"Women Loyalist Paramilitaries in Northern Ireland: Duty, Agency and Empowerment – A Report from the Field". ''All Academic Research''. Sandra McEvoy. 2008. p.16</ref> The first women's unit was founded on the [[Shankill Road]] by [[Wendy Millar|Wendy "Bucket" Millar]], whose sons Herbie and James "Sham" Millar would later become prominent UDA members.<ref name="heraldwilson">{{cite news |last=Wilson |first=Iain |title=Plea for calm as UDA faction heads south; The 40 Loyalists forced out of Belfast for Scotland have decided it is time to move on |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-23527846.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105214415/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-23527846.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 November 2013 |publisher=The Herald  |access-date=14 May 2012 |date=14 February 2012|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The UDA women's department was headed by Jean Moore, who also came from the Shankill Road. She had also served as the president of the women's auxiliary of the [[Loyalist Association of Workers]]. Her brother Ingram "Jock" Beckett, one of the UDA's founding members, had been killed in March 1972 by a rival UDA faction in an internal dispute.<ref name="dillon232">Dillon, Martin; Lehane, Denis (1973). ''Political murder in Northern Ireland''. Penguin. p.232</ref> Moore was succeeded by [[Hester Dunn]] of east Belfast, who also ran the public relations and administration section at the UDA headquarters.<ref name="wood94">Wood, Ian S. (2006). ''Crimes of Loyalty: a History of the UDA''. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. p.94</ref> Wendy Millar's Shankill Road group was a particularly active women's unit, and another was based in [[Sandy Row]], south Belfast, a traditional UDA stronghold. The latter was commanded by Elizabeth "Lily" Douglas.<ref name="kiely108">Kiely, David M. (2005). ''Deadlier Than the Male: Ireland's Female Killers''. Dublin: Gill & MacMillan. p.108 {{ISBN|0717138941}}</ref> Her teenaged daughter, Elizabeth was one of the members.<ref name="life"/>

The Sandy Row women's UDA unit was disbanded after it carried out a vicious "romper room" punishment beating on 24 July 1974 which left 32-year-old [[Anne Ogilby killing|Ann Ogilby]] dead. The body of Ogilby, a Protestant single mother who had an affair with the husband of one of the unit's members, was found in a ditch five days later.<ref name="simpson32">Simpson, Alan (1999). ''Murder Madness: true crimes of the Troubles''. Dublin: Gill & MacMillan. p. 32 {{ISBN|978-0-7171-2903-4}}</ref> The day of the fatal beating Ogilby was abducted and forced upstairs to the first floor of a disused bakery in Sandy Row that had been converted into a UDA club. Two teenage girls, Henrietta Cowan and Christine Smith,<ref name="simpson38">Simpson, p.38</ref> acting under Elizabeth Douglas' orders to give Ogilby a "good rompering",<ref name="kiely111"/> punched, kicked, then battered her to death with bricks and sticks; the autopsy later revealed that Ogilby had suffered 24 blows to the head and body. The killing, which was carried out within earshot of Ogilby's six-year-old daughter, caused widespread revulsion throughout Northern Ireland and was condemned by the UDA prisoners serving inside the [[Maze Prison]]. None of the other UDA women's units had consented to or been aware of the fatal punishment beating until it was reported in the news.<ref name="mcevoy12"/> Douglas, Cowan, and Smith were convicted of the murder and sentenced to imprisonment at Armagh Women's Jail. Seven other members of the women's unit and a UDA man were also convicted for their part in the murder.<ref name="life">[http://www.theregionalpressawards.org.uk/userfiles/files/entries-00099-02876.pdf "I heard mum beg for mercy": ''Sunday Life''. Ciaran Barnes. 7 February 2010] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426072323/http://www.theregionalpressawards.org.uk/userfiles/files/entries-00099-02876.pdf |date=26 April 2012 }} Retrieved 28 December 2011</ref><ref name="kiely111">Kiely, David M. (2005). ''Deadlier Than the Male: Ireland's Female Killers''. Dublin: Gill & MacMillan. p.111 {{ISBN|0717138941}}</ref> The UDA "romper rooms", named after [[Romper Room|the children's television programme]], were places where victims were beaten and tortured prior to being killed. This was known as a "rompering". The "romper rooms" were normally located in disused buildings, lock-up garages, warehouses, and rooms above pubs and drinking clubs.<ref name="nelson126">Nelson, pp.126, 146</ref> The use of the "romper rooms" was a more common practice among male members of the UDA than their female counterparts.<ref name="mcevoy12"/>

=== Paramilitary campaign ===
{{See also|Timeline of Ulster Defence Association actions}}
<!-- [[WP:NFCC]] violation: [[File:UDAMembers123.jpg|thumb|250px|Masked and armed UDA members at a show of strength in Belfast]] -->
[[File:Flag of the Ulster Freedom Fighters.svg|thumb|250px|The flag of the "Ulster Freedom Fighters" with a clenched fist representing the [[Red Hand of Ulster]] and the Latin motto {{Lang|la|Feriens tego}}, meaning "striking I defend"]]

Starting in 1972 the UDA along with the other main Loyalist paramilitary group the [[Ulster Volunteer Force]], undertook an armed campaign against the Catholic population of Northern Ireland that would last until the end of the troubles. In May 1972, the UDA's pressured leader Tommy Herron decided that responsibility for acts of violence committed by the UDA would be claimed by the "UFF". Its first public statements came one month later.<ref name="UFF">Wood, Ian S., ''Crimes of Loyalty: A History of the UDA'' (Edinburgh, 2006), p. 21</ref>

The UDA's official position during the Troubles was that if the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] (Provisional IRA) called off its campaign of violence, then it would do the same. However, if the British government announced that it was withdrawing from Northern Ireland, then the UDA would act as "the IRA in reverse."<ref name="OBrien_91">Brendan O'Brien, the Long War, the IRA and Sinn Féin (1995), p.91</ref>

Active throughout the Troubles, its armed campaign gained prominence in the early 1990s through [[Johnny Adair]]'s ruthless leadership of the Lower [[Shankill Road|Shankill]] 2nd Battalion, C. Company, which resulted in a greater degree of tactical independence for individual brigades.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/cgi-bin/tab2.pl |title=Table from CAIN showing deaths per year |publisher=Cain.ulst.ac.uk |access-date=16 June 2010 |archive-date=7 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907234718/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/cgi-bin/tab2.pl |url-status=live }}</ref> C. Company's hit squad, led by [[Stephen McKeag]], became notorious for a campaign of random murders of Catholic civilians in the first half of the 1990s.<ref>Henry McDonald & Jim Cusack, ''UDA – Inside the Heart of Loyalist Terror'', Dublin: Penguin Ireland, 2004, p. 3</ref>

They benefited, along with the Ulster Volunteer Force, and a group called [[Ulster Resistance]] (set up by the [[Democratic Unionist Party]]), from a shipment of arms imported from [[Lebanon]] in 1988.<ref name="OBrien_92">O'Brien p.92</ref> The weapons landed included rocket launchers, 200 rifles, 90 pistols and over 400 grenades.<ref name="OBrien_92"/> Although almost two–thirds of these weapons were later recovered by the [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]] (RUC), they enabled the UDA to launch an assassination campaign against their perceived enemies.

[[Image:Innishargie.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A UFF mural in the [[Kilcooley estate]] in [[Bangor, County Down|Bangor]]]]
[[File:SandyRowMural.JPG|thumb|right|250px|A UFF mural in the [[Sandy Row]] area of South Belfast in 2007 (since painted over in 2012)]]

North Belfast UDA brigadier [[Davy Payne]] was arrested after his "scout" car had been stopped at a RUC checkpoint and large caches of the weaponry were discovered in the boots of his associates' cars. He was sentenced to 19 years in prison.

In 1992, [[Brian Nelson (Northern Irish loyalist)|Brian Nelson]], a prominent UDA member who served as the organisation's intelligence chief, was arrested by the [[Stevens Inquiries|Stevens Inquiry Team]]. It was subsequently uncovered that he was also an agent of the [[Force Research Unit]] (FRU), an undercover [[Intelligence Corps (United Kingdom)|Intelligence Corps]] unit. Over a period of two months, Nelson dictated a police statement covering 650 pages. He claimed that he had been tasked by his FRU handlers with transforming the UDA into a more effective force, particularly at carrying out killings. Using information supplied by his handlers, Nelson produced dossiers on proposed targets, which were passed on to UDA hitmen. Nelson was subsequently sentenced to 10 years in prison.<ref>Peter Taylor ''Loyalists''</ref><ref name=IndOb>''[[The Independent]]'' obituary for Brian Nelson, 14 April 2003</ref>

One of the most high-profile UDA attacks came in October 1993, when three masked men attacked a restaurant called the Rising Sun in the predominantly Catholic village of [[Greysteel]], [[County Londonderry]], where two hundred people were celebrating [[Halloween]]. The two men entered and opened fire. Eight people, including six Catholics and two Protestants were killed and nineteen wounded in what became known as the [[Greysteel massacre]]. The "UFF" claimed the attack was in retaliation to the IRA's [[Shankill Road bombing]], which killed nine people seven days earlier.

According to the Sutton database of deaths at the [[University of Ulster]]'s [[Conflict Archive on the Internet|CAIN project]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/crosstabs.html|title=CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths|work=[[Conflict Archive on the Internet]]|publisher=Cain.ulst.ac.uk|access-date=16 June 2010|archive-date=24 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324044004/http://www.cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/crosstabs.html|url-status=live}}</ref> the UDA was responsible for 259 killings during the Troubles. 220 of its victims were civilians (predominantly Catholics), 37 were other loyalist paramilitaries (including 30 of its own members), three were members of the security forces and 11 were republican paramilitaries. According to the [[Stevens Report|Stevens Enquiry]], a number of these attacks were carried out with the assistance or complicity of elements of the British security forces.<ref name=bbcmay2015>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32887445 "UK agents 'worked with NI paramilitary killers'"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181124023847/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32887445 |date=24 November 2018 }}, BBC News, 28 May 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2015.</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-20662412 "Pat Finucane murder: 'Shocking state collusion', says PM"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125004348/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-20662412 |date=25 January 2021 }}, BBC. Retrieved 11 March 2015.</ref>  The preferred [[modus operandi]] of the UDA was individual killings of civilian targets in nationalist areas, rather than large-scale bomb or mortar attacks.

The UDA employed various codewords whenever they claimed their attacks. These included: "The Crucible", "Titanic", "Ulster Troubles" and "Captain Black".{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}

===Post-ceasefire activities===
Its ceasefire was welcomed by the [[Northern Ireland]] Secretary of State, [[Paul Murphy, Baron Murphy of Torfaen|Paul Murphy]], and the [[Chief Constable]] of the [[Police Service of Northern Ireland]], [[Hugh Orde]].

[[File:UFF flag in Finvoy.JPG|thumb|left|200px|A UFF flag in Finvoy, a rural area of County Antrim]]

Since the ceasefire, the UDA has been accused of taking [[vigilante]] action against alleged rival drug dealers,<ref name="auto1">{{cite web |url=http://www.independentmonitoringcommission.org/publications.cfm?id=31 |title=Eighth Report of the Independent Monitoring Commission |publisher=Independentmonitoringcommission.org |date=1 February 2006 |access-date=16 June 2010 |archive-date=7 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100807211957/http://www.independentmonitoringcommission.org/publications.cfm?id=31 |url-status=usurped }}</ref> including [[tarring and feathering]] a man on the Taughmonagh estate in south Belfast.<ref>Henry McDonald [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/northernirelandassembly/story/0,,2160847,00.html Terror gangs fight to keep street power] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024194244/http://politics.guardian.co.uk/northernirelandassembly/story/0,,2160847,00.html |date=24 October 2007 }}, ''The Observer'', 2 September 2007. Retrieved 13 January 2008.</ref><ref>Henry McDonald [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2239941,00.html Law and order Belfast-style as two men are forced on a 'walk of shame'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080116095312/http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2239941,00.html |date=16 January 2008 }}, ''The Observer'', 13 January 2008. Retrieved 13 January 2008.</ref> It has also been involved in several [[Loyalist Feud|feud]]s with the UVF, which led to many killings. The UDA has also been riddled by its own internecine warfare, with self-styled "brigadiers" and former figures of power and influence, such as [[Johnny Adair]] and [[Jim Gray (UDA member)|Jim Gray]] (themselves bitter rivals), falling rapidly in and out of favour with the rest of the leadership. Gray and [[John Gregg (UDA)|John Gregg]] are amongst those to have been killed during the internal strife. On 22 February 2003, the UDA announced a "12-month period of military inactivity".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=229252003 |title=Scotland on Sunday |publisher=Scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com |access-date=16 June 2010 |archive-date=16 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071116020824/http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=229252003 |url-status=live }}</ref> It said it would review its ceasefire every three months. The [[UPRG]]'s [[Frankie Gallagher]] has since taken a leading role in ending the association between the UDA and drug dealing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.4ni.co.uk/northern_ireland_news.asp?id=68155 |title=Loyalist Drug Dealers Are "Scum" Says UPRG |publisher=4ni.co.uk |date=6 November 2007 |access-date=16 June 2010 |archive-date=5 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605041523/http://www.4ni.co.uk/northern_ireland_news.asp?id=68155 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Following an August 2005 ''[[Sunday World]]'' article that poked fun at the gambling losses of one of its leaders, the UDA banned the sale of the newspaper from shops in areas it controls. Shops that defy the ban have suffered arson attacks, and at least one newsagent was threatened with death.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/article/040805/sunday_world_faces|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051215212147/http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/article/040805/sunday_world_faces|url-status=dead|title=Press Gazette|archive-date=15 December 2005}}</ref> The [[Police Service of Northern Ireland]] began accompanying the paper's delivery vans.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060106084530/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-1507-1743605-1187,00.html|url-status=live|title=The Times & The Sunday Times|archive-date=6 January 2006|website=[[The Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nuzhound.com/articles/irish_news/arts2005/aug16_Loyalists_dont_want_to_face_up__SMcKay.php |title=Nuzhound |publisher=Nuzhound |access-date=16 June 2010 |archive-date=12 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612094856/http://www.nuzhound.com/articles/irish_news/arts2005/aug16_Loyalists_dont_want_to_face_up__SMcKay.php |url-status=live }}</ref> The UDA was also considered to have played an instrumental role in loyalist riots in Belfast in September 2005.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4244158.stm |title=BBC |work=BBC News |date=14 September 2005 |access-date=16 June 2010 |archive-date=23 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923161136/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4244158.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 13 November 2005 the UDA announced that it would "consider its future", in the wake of the standing down of the Provisional IRA and [[Loyalist Volunteer Force]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/1113/north.html |title=RTÉ |publisher=RTÉ.ie |date=13 November 2005 |access-date=16 June 2010 |archive-date=23 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110223020209/http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/1113/north.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In February 2006, the [[Independent Monitoring Commission]] (IMC) reported UDA involvement in organised crime, drug trafficking, counterfeiting, extortion, money laundering and robbery.<ref name="auto1"/>

[[File:UFF D Company mural.png|thumb|right|250px|A UDA/UFF mural in Bangor]]

On 20 June 2006, the UDA expelled [[Shoukri brothers|Andre Shoukri and his brother Ihab]], two of its senior members who were heavily involved in [[organised crime]]. Some saw this as a sign that the UDA was slowly coming away from crime.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/5099082.stm?ls |title=BBC Report |work=BBC News |date=20 June 2006 |access-date=16 June 2010 |archive-date=23 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923161140/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5099082.stm?ls |url-status=live }}</ref> The move did see the southeast [[County Antrim|Antrim]] brigade of the UDA, which had been at loggerheads with the leadership for some time, support Shoukri and break away under former UPRG spokesman [[Tommy Kirkham]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/article2402742.ece|title=UDA expels south east Antrim brigade chiefs|access-date=19 February 2008|archive-date=6 November 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071106131242/http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/article2402742.ece|url-status=live}}</ref> Other senior members met with [[Taoiseach]] [[Bertie Ahern]] for talks on 13 July in the same year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://u.tv/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=75152&pt=n |title=UTV report |publisher=U.tv |access-date=16 June 2010 |archive-date=16 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090316005547/http://www4.u.tv/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=75152&pt=n |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 11 November 2007 the UDA announced that the Ulster Freedom Fighters would be stood down from midnight of the same day,<ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7089310.stm | work=BBC News | title=UFF given the order to stand down | date=12 November 2007 | access-date=26 May 2010 | archive-date=13 November 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071113103708/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7089310.stm | url-status=live }}</ref> with its weapons "being put beyond use" although it stressed that these would not be decommissioned.<ref>{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/protestant-paramilitary-group-in-n-ireland-renounces-violence-1.653729 |title=CBC News: Protestant paramilitary group in N. Ireland renounces violence |publisher=Cbc.ca |date=11 November 2007 |access-date=16 June 2010 |archive-date=24 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131024011229/http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/protestant-paramilitary-group-in-n-ireland-renounces-violence-1.653729 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Although the group expressed a willingness to move from criminal activity to "community development", the IMC said it saw little evidence of this move because of the views of its members and the lack of coherence in the group's leadership as a result of its decentralised structure. While the report indicated the leadership intends to move towards its stated goals, factionalism hindered this change and was the strongest hindrance to progress. Although most loyalist actions were curtailed since the IMC's previous report, most of loyalist paramilitary activity was coming from the UDA.

The IMC report concluded that the leadership's willingness to change has resulted in community tension and the group would continue to be monitored, although "the mainstream UDA still has some way to go." Furthermore, the IMC warned the group to "recognise that the organisation's time as a paramilitary group has passed and that decommissioning is inevitable." Decommissioning was said to be the "biggest outstanding issue for loyalist leaders, although not the only one."<ref name="IMC">{{cite web|url=http://www.independentmonitoringcommission.org/documents/uploads/Twentieth%20Report.pdf|title=412882_HC 1112_Text|access-date=16 June 2010|archive-date=18 December 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081218015532/http://www.independentmonitoringcommission.org/documents/uploads/Twentieth%20Report.pdf|url-status=usurped}}</ref>

[[File:Ballyduff UFF.png|thumb|left|250px|A UDA/UFF South-East Antrim Brigade mural in Newtownabbey]]

On 6 January 2010, the UDA announced that it had put its weapons "verifiably beyond use".<ref name="decommissioned">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8442683.stm "UDA confirm guns decommissioned"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912045557/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8442683.stm |date=12 September 2017 }} BBC News. Retrieved 8 January 2010.</ref> The decommissioning was completed five weeks before a government amnesty deadline beyond which any weapons found could have been used as evidence for a prosecution.<ref name="decommissioned"/> The decommissioning was confirmed by Canadian General [[John de Chastelain]], chairman of the [[Independent International Commission on Decommissioning]], as well as [[Lord Eames]], former [[Archbishop of Armagh (Church of Ireland)|Archbishop of Armagh]] and Sir George Quigley, former top civil servant.<ref name="decommissioned2">[https://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5jTJRtlWuvOQhi76zBqf_eLEoIp6Q "UDA decommissions all weapons"]{{dead link|date=June 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} UK Press Association. Retrieved 8 January 2010.</ref>

Chastelain stated that the decommissioning included arms, ammunition, explosives and explosive devices and the UDA stated that the arms "constitute the totality of those under their control".<ref name="decommissioned"/> Following the decommissioning the [[Ulster Political Research Group]], the UDA's political representatives, stated that the "Ulster Defence Association was formed to defend our communities; we state quite clearly and categorically that this responsibility now rests with the Government and its institutions where legitimacy resides".<ref name="decommissioned2"/> UDA representative Frankie Gallagher also stated that the group now regretted being responsible for the killing of more than 400 people.<ref>[https://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5hv9IEu7BFnrX5xi-fa-viPOnzStQ "Northern Ireland's outlawed Ulster Defence Association says it has fully disarmed"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100120051420/http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5hv9IEu7BFnrX5xi-fa-viPOnzStQ |date=20 January 2010 }} The Canadian Press. Retrieved 8 January 2010.</ref>

[[Shaun Woodward]], the British [[Secretary of State for Northern Ireland]], stated that this "is a major act of leadership by the UDA and further comprehensive evidence of the success of politics over violence in Northern Ireland" and the act was also welcomed by Sinn Féin and DUP politicians.<ref>[http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/uk-ireland/northern-ireland-politicians-hail-uda-move-14624747.html " Northern Ireland politicians hail UDA move "] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100109131059/http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/uk-ireland/northern-ireland-politicians-hail-uda-move-14624747.html |date=9 January 2010 }} ''Belfast Telegraph''. Retrieved 8 January 2010.</ref> The President of the Republic of Ireland, [[Mary McAleese]], described the decommissioning as "a very positive milestone on the journey of peace".<ref>[http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0107/1224261824063.html "President hails 'milestone on journey of peace'"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123170105/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0107/1224261824063.html |date=23 November 2010 }} ''The Irish Times''. Retrieved 8 January 2010.</ref> US Secretary of State [[Hillary Clinton]] also welcomed the move as a step towards lasting peace in Northern Ireland.<ref>[http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2010-01/07/content_12769836.html " Clinton welcomes weapons decommission by N. Ireland's loyalist paramilitary group "]{{dead link|date=July 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Xinhua. Retrieved 8 January 2010.</ref>

===South East Antrim group===
{{main|UDA South East Antrim Brigade}}

This area also continues to use the "UDA" title in its name, although it too expressed willingness to move towards "community development". Although serious crime is not prevalent among its members, some who were arrested for illegal drug sales and "extortion" were exiled by the Brigade. A clear distinction between the factions was not available in the 20th IMC report, as this was the first report to differentiate between the two.<ref name="IMC"/>