Editing Ulster Volunteer Force (section)

==History==
{{see also|Timeline of Ulster Volunteer Force actions}}

===Background===
Since 1964 and the formation of the [[Campaign for Social Justice]], there had been a growing [[Northern Ireland civil-rights movement (1960s)|civil rights campaign]] in Northern Ireland, seeking to highlight discrimination against Catholics by the [[Unionism in Ireland|unionist]] [[government of Northern Ireland]].<ref name="CAIN 1966">[http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch1800-1967.htm Chronology of Key Events in Irish History, 1800 to 1967] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303105236/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch1800-1967.htm |date=3 March 2011 }}. [[Conflict Archive on the Internet]] (CAIN). Retrieved 11 June 2013.</ref> Some unionists feared Irish nationalism and launched an opposing response in Northern Ireland.<ref name="CAIN 1966" /> In April 1966, [[Ulster loyalist]]s led by [[Ian Paisley]], a Protestant fundamentalist preacher, founded the [[Ulster Constitution Defence Committee]] (UCDC). It set up a paramilitary-style wing called the [[Ulster Protestant Volunteers]] (UPV).<ref name="CAIN 1966" /> The 'Paisleyites' set out to stymie the civil rights movement and oust [[Terence O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of the Maine|Terence O'Neill]], [[Prime Minister of Northern Ireland]]. Although O'Neill was a unionist, they saw him as being too 'soft' on the civil rights movement and too friendly with the [[Republic of Ireland]]. There was to be much overlap in membership between the UCDC/UPV and the UVF.<ref>Jordan, Hugh. ''Milestones in Murder: Defining Moments in Ulster's Terror War''. Random House, 2011. Chapter 3.</ref>

===Beginnings===
[[File:UVF flag in Glenarm.JPG|thumb|right|A UVF flag in [[Glenarm]], County Antrim]]
On 7 May 1966, loyalists [[petrol bomb]]ed a Catholic-owned [[public house|pub]] in the loyalist [[Shankill Road|Shankill]] area of [[Belfast]]. Fire engulfed the house next door, badly burning the elderly Protestant widow who lived there. She died of her injuries on 27 June.<ref name="CAIN 1966"/> The group called itself the "Ulster Volunteer Force" (UVF), after the [[Ulster Volunteers]] of the early 20th century, although in the words of a member of the previous organisation "the present para-military organisation ... has no connection with the U.V.F. of which I have been speaking. Though, for its own purposes, it assumed the same name it has nothing else in common."<ref>{{cite book |last=MacDermott |first=John |author-link=John MacDermott, Baron MacDermott |title=An Enriching Life |publisher=privately published |date=1979 |page=42}}</ref> It was led by [[Gusty Spence]], a former [[Royal Ulster Rifles]] soldier from Northern Ireland. Spence claimed that he was approached in 1965 by two men, one of whom was an [[Ulster Unionist Party]] MP, who told him that the UVF was to be re-established and that he was to have responsibility for the Shankill.<ref name="Hen55">Hennessey, Thomas. ''Northern Ireland: The Origin of the Troubles''. Gill & Macmillan, 2005. p. 55</ref> On 21 May, the group issued a statement:<blockquote>From this day, we declare war against the Irish Republican Army and its splinter groups. Known IRA men will be executed mercilessly and without hesitation. Less extreme measures will be taken against anyone sheltering or helping them, but if they persist in giving them aid, then more extreme methods will be adopted. ... we solemnly warn the authorities to make no more speeches of appeasement. We are heavily armed Protestants dedicated to this cause.<ref>Nelson, Sarah. ''Ulster's Uncertain Defenders: Protestant Political Paramilitary and Community Groups and the Northern Ireland Conflict''. Appletree Press, 1984. p. 61.</ref></blockquote>

On 27 May, Spence sent four UVF members to kill IRA volunteer Leo Martin, who lived in Belfast. Unable to find their target, the men drove around the [[Falls Road, Belfast|Falls]] district in search of a Catholic. They shot John Scullion, a Catholic civilian, as he walked home.<ref name="Dillon">Dillon, Martin. ''The Shankill Butchers: The Real Story of Cold-Blooded Mass Murder''. Routledge, 1999. pp. 20–23</ref> He died of his wounds on 11 June.<ref name="CAIN 1966" /> Spence later wrote "At the time, the attitude was that if you couldn't get an IRA man you should shoot a [[Taig#"Taig" and the Troubles|Taig]], he's your last resort".<ref name="Dillon" />

On 26 June, the group shot dead a Catholic civilian and wounded two others as they left a pub on Malvern Street, Belfast.<ref name="CAIN 1966" /> Two days later, the [[Executive Committee of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland|Government of Northern Ireland]] declared the UVF illegal.<ref name="CAIN 1966" /> The shootings led to Spence's being sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommended minimum sentence of twenty years.<ref>{{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Taylor (Journalist) |title=Loyalists: War and Peace in Northern Ireland |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |year=1999 |page=44 |isbn=0-7475-4519-7}}</ref> Spence appointed [[Samuel McClelland]] as UVF Chief of Staff in his stead.<ref name="cusack21">Jim Cusack & Henry McDonald. ''UVF''. Poolbeg, 1997. p. 21</ref>

===Violence escalates===
By 1969, the Catholic civil rights movement had escalated its protest campaign, and O'Neill had promised them some concessions. In March and April that year, UVF and UPV members bombed water and electricity installations in Northern Ireland, blaming them on the dormant IRA and elements of the civil rights movement. Some of them left much of Belfast without power and water.<ref name="CAIN 1969">{{cite web |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch69.htm |title=Chronology of the Conflict: 1969 |publisher=[[Conflict Archive on the Internet]] (CAIN) |access-date=1 September 2011 |archive-date=6 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206184139/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch69.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The loyalists "intended to force a crisis which would so undermine confidence in O'Neill's ability to maintain law and order that he would be obliged to resign".<ref>Cusack & McDonald, p. 28</ref> There were bombings on 30 March, 4 April, 20 April, 24 April and 26 April. All were widely blamed on the IRA, and British troops were sent to guard installations.<ref name="CAIN 1969"/> Unionist support for O'Neill waned, and on 28 April he resigned as Prime Minister.<ref name="CAIN 1969"/>

On 12 August 1969, the "[[Battle of the Bogside]]" began in [[Derry]]. This was a large, three-day riot between Irish nationalists and the [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]] (RUC). In response to events in Derry, nationalists held [[1969 Northern Ireland riots|protests throughout Northern Ireland, some of which became violent]]. In Belfast, loyalists responded by attacking nationalist districts. Eight people were shot dead and hundreds were injured. Scores of houses and businesses were burnt out, most of them owned by Catholics. In response, the British Army was deployed on the streets of Northern Ireland and [[Irish Army]] units set up [[field hospital]]s near the border. Thousands of families, mostly Catholics, were forced to flee their homes and [[refugee camp]]s were set up in the Republic of Ireland.<ref name="CAIN 1969"/>

On 12 October, a loyalist protest in the Shankill became violent. During the riot, UVF members shot dead RUC officer Victor Arbuckle. He was the first RUC officer to be killed during the Troubles.<ref>McKittrick, David. ''Lost Lives: The Stories of the Men, Women and Children who Died as a Result of the Northern Ireland Troubles''. Random House, 2001. p. 42</ref>

The UVF had launched its first attack in the Republic of Ireland on 5 August 1969, when it bombed the [[RTÉ Television Centre]] in Dublin.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bomb damages RTÉ studios |url=http://www.rte.ie/archives/exhibitions/681-history-of-rte/704-rte-1960s/139354-bomb-damages-rte-tv-studios/ |publisher=RTÉ.ie |access-date=2013-12-27 |date=1 December 2011 |archive-date=15 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015080931/http://www.rte.ie/archives/exhibitions/681-history-of-rte/704-rte-1960s/139354-bomb-damages-rte-tv-studios/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VQMgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TGQFAAAAIBAJ&dq=dublin%20bomb&pg=5360%2C8003868 "Dublin blast"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309040134/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VQMgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TGQFAAAAIBAJ&dq=dublin%20bomb&pg=5360%2C8003868 |date=9 March 2021 }}. ''[[Sun Journal (Lewiston)|The Lewiston Daily Sun]]'', 29 December 1969</ref> There were further attacks in the Republic between October and December 1969. In October, UVF and UPV member Thomas McDowell was killed by the bomb he was planting at [[Ballyshannon]] power station. The UVF stated that the attempted attack was a protest against the Irish Army units "still massed on the border in [[County Donegal]]".<ref>Cusack & McDonald, p. 74</ref> In December, the UVF detonated a [[car bomb]] near the [[Garda Síochána|Garda]] central detective bureau and telephone exchange headquarters in Dublin.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VQMgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TGQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6100%2C7970659 "Irish tighten security after Dublin bombing"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204224542/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VQMgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TGQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6100,7970659 |date=4 December 2020 }}. ''The Lewiston Daily Sun'', 29 December 1969</ref>

===Early to mid-1970s===
In January 1970, the UVF began bombing Catholic-owned businesses in Protestant areas of Belfast. It issued a statement vowing to "remove republican elements from loyalist areas" and stop them "reaping financial benefit therefrom". During 1970, 42 Catholic-owned licensed premises in Protestant areas were bombed.<ref name=cusack83>Cusack & McDonald, pp. 83–85</ref> Catholic churches were also attacked. In February, it began to target critics of militant loyalism – the homes of MPs [[Austin Currie]], [[Sheelagh Murnaghan]], [[Richard Ferguson (barrister)|Richard Ferguson]] and [[Anne Dickson]] were attacked with improvised bombs.<ref name=cusack83/> It also continued its attacks in the Republic of Ireland, bombing the Dublin-Belfast railway line, an electricity substation, a radio mast, and Irish nationalist monuments.<ref name=cusack77>Cusack & McDonald, pp. 77–78</ref>

The IRA had split into the [[Provisional IRA]] and [[Official IRA]] in December 1969. In 1971, these ramped up their activity against the British Army and RUC. The first British soldier to be killed by the Provisional IRA died in February 1971. That year, a string of tit-for-tat pub bombings began in Belfast.<ref>Cusack & McDonald, p. 91</ref> This came to a climax on 4 December, when the UVF [[McGurk's Bar bombing|bombed McGurk's Bar]], a Catholic-owned pub in Belfast. Fifteen Catholic civilians were killed and seventeen wounded. It was the UVF's deadliest attack in Northern Ireland, and the deadliest attack in Belfast during the Troubles.<ref>Taylor, p. 88</ref>

The following year, 1972, was the most violent of the Troubles. Along with the newly formed [[Ulster Defence Association]] (UDA), the UVF started an armed campaign against the Catholic population of Northern Ireland. It began carrying out gun attacks to kill random Catholic civilians and using car bombs to attack Catholic-owned pubs. It would continue these tactics for the rest of its campaign. On 23 October 1972, the UVF carried out an armed raid against King's Park camp, a UDR/[[Territorial Army (United Kingdom)|Territorial Army]] depot in Lurgan. They managed to procure a large cache of weapons and ammunition including [[L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle]]s, [[Browning pistols]], and [[Sterling submachine gun]]s. Twenty tons of [[ammonium nitrate]] was also stolen from the Belfast docks.<ref name="taylor112" />

The UVF launched further attacks in the Republic of Ireland during December 1972 and January 1973, when it detonated [[1972 and 1973 Dublin bombings|three car bombs in Dublin]] and one in [[Belturbet]], [[County Cavan]], killing a total of five civilians. It would attack the Republic again in May 1974, during the two-week [[Ulster Workers' Council strike]]. This was a [[general strike]] in protest against the [[Sunningdale Agreement]], which meant sharing political power with Irish nationalists and the Republic having more involvement in Northern Ireland. Along with the UDA, it helped to enforce the strike by blocking roads, intimidating workers, and shutting any businesses that opened.<ref>Anderson, Don. ''14 May Days''. [http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/uwc/anderson.htm Chapter 3] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007014857/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/uwc/anderson.htm |date=7 October 2014 }}. Reproduced on [[Conflict Archive on the Internet]].</ref> On 17 May, two UVF units from the Belfast and [[UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade|Mid-Ulster brigades]] detonated [[Dublin and Monaghan Bombings|four car bombs]] in Dublin and [[Monaghan]]. Thirty-three people were killed and almost 300 injured. It was the deadliest attack of the Troubles. There are various{{citation needed|date=September 2016}} allegations that elements of the British security forces colluded with the UVF in the bombings. The [[Oireachtas|Irish parliament]]'s [[Oireachtas committee|Joint Committee on Justice]] called the bombings an act of "international terrorism" involving members of the British security forces.<ref>[http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0517/monaghan.html "Call for probe of British link to 1974 bombs"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012084317/http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0517/monaghan.html |date=12 October 2012 }}. RTÉ News. 19 May 2008. Retrieved 12 June 2013.</ref> Both the UVF and the British government have denied the claims.

The UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade was founded in 1972 in Lurgan by Billy Hanna, a sergeant in the UDR and a member of the Brigade Staff, who served as the brigade's commander, until he was shot dead in July 1975. From that time until the early 1990s the Mid-Ulster Brigade was led by [[Robin Jackson|Robin "the Jackal" Jackson]], who then passed the leadership to [[Billy Wright (loyalist)|Billy Wright]]. Hanna and Jackson have both been implicated by journalist Joe Tiernan and RUC [[Special Patrol Group]] (SPG) officer [[John Weir (loyalist)|John Weir]] as having led one of the units that bombed Dublin.<ref>The Barron Report (2003).</ref> Jackson was allegedly the hitman who shot Hanna dead outside his home in Lurgan.<ref>"UVF Rule Out Jackal Link To Murder", ''The People'', 30 June 2002. [https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-88079079] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923161303/https://www.gale.com/databases/questia|date=23 September 2021}}. Retrieved 17–12–10</ref>

The brigade formed part of the [[Glenanne gang]], a loose alliance of loyalists which the [[Pat Finucane Centre]] (PFC) has linked to 87 killings in the 1970s. The gang comprised, in addition to members the UVF, elements of the UDR and RUC, all of which were allegedly acting under the direction of the [[Intelligence Corps (United Kingdom)|Intelligence Corps]] and/or the [[RUC Special Branch]] according to the PFC.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.patfinucanecentre.org/sarmagh/sarmagh.html |title=Collusion in the South Armagh / Mid Ulster Area in the mid-1970's |access-date=2011-04-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426121606/http://www.patfinucanecentre.org/sarmagh/sarmagh.html |archive-date=26 April 2011}}. Retrieved 17–12–10</ref>

===Mid- to late 1970s===
[[File:UVF mural in Shankill Road, Belfast.jpg|thumb|right|UVF mural on the [[Shankill Road]], where the Brigade Staff is based]]
In 1974, hardliners staged a coup and took over the Brigade Staff.<ref name="nelson175"/> This resulted in a sharp increase in sectarian killings and internecine feuding, both with the UDA and within the UVF itself.<ref name="nelson175">Nelson, Sarah (1984). ''Ulster's Uncertain Defenders: Protestant Paramilitary, Political and Community Groups and the Northern Ireland Conflict''. Belfast: Appletree Press. p. 175, pp. 187–190.</ref> Some of the new Brigade Staff members bore nicknames such as "Big Dog" and "Smudger".<ref name="nelson188">Nelson, p. 188</ref> Beginning in 1975, recruitment to the UVF, which until then had been solely by invitation, was now left to the discretion of local units.<ref>Edwards, Aaron & Bloomer, Stephen, ''Conflict Transformation Papers Vol. 12, Democratising the Peace in Northern Ireland: Progressive Loyalists and the Politics of Conflict Transformation'' (2005), Regency Press, Belfast, p. 27</ref>

The UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade carried out further attacks during this same period. These included the [[Miami Showband killings]] of 31 July 1975 – when three members of [[The Miami Showband|the popular showband]] were killed, having been stopped at a fake British Army checkpoint outside [[Newry]] in [[County Down]]. Two members of the group survived the attack and later testified against those responsible. Two UVF members, [[Harris Boyle]] and [[Wesley Somerville]], were accidentally killed by their own bomb while carrying out this attack. Two of those later convicted (James McDowell and Thomas Crozier) were also serving members of the [[Ulster Defence Regiment]] (UDR), a regular Army regiment consisting of Northern Irish [[reservist]]s.

From late 1975 to mid-1977, a unit of the UVF dubbed the [[Shankill Butchers]] (a group of UVF men based on Belfast's Shankill Road) carried out a series of sectarian murders of Catholic civilians. Six of the victims were abducted at random, then beaten and tortured before having their throats slashed. This gang was led by [[Lenny Murphy]]. He was shot dead by the IRA in November 1982, four months after his release from the [[Maze Prison]].

The group had been proscribed in July 1966, but this ban was lifted on 4 April 1974 by [[Merlyn Rees]], [[Secretary of State for Northern Ireland]], in an effort to bring the UVF into the democratic process.<ref>Taylor, Peter (1999). ''Loyalists: War and Peace in Northern Ireland'. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. p. 124</ref> A political wing was formed in June 1974, the [[Volunteer Political Party]] led by UVF Chief of Staff Ken Gibson, which contested [[Belfast West (UK Parliament constituency)|West Belfast]] in the [[October 1974 United Kingdom general election|October 1974 general election]], polling 2,690 votes (6%). However, the UVF spurned the government efforts and continued killing. [[Colin Wallace]], a member of the Intelligence Corps, asserted in an internal memo in 1975 that MI6 and [[RUC Special Branch]] formed a [[pseudo-gang]] within the UVF, designed to engage in violence and to subvert the tentative moves of some in the UVF towards the political process. Captain [[Robert Nairac]] of [[14 Intelligence Company]] was alleged to have been involved in several UVF operations.<ref>Barron Report (2003) p, 172</ref> The UVF was banned again on 3 October 1975 and two days later twenty-six suspected UVF members were arrested in a series of raids. The men were tried, and in March 1977 were sentenced to an average of twenty-five years each.<ref>{{cite book |last=Boyce |first=George |title=Defenders of the Union: British and Irish Unionism, 1800–1999 |url=https://archive.org/details/defendersunionsu1801boyc |url-access=limited |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2001 |page=[https://archive.org/details/defendersunionsu1801boyc/page/n277 269] |isbn=978-0-415-17421-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=What is the UVF? |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6619417.stm |publisher=BBC News |date=3 May 2007 |access-date=11 February 2008 |archive-date=18 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080518142406/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6619417.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In October 1975, after staging a counter-coup, the Brigade Staff acquired a new leadership of moderates with Tommy West serving as the Chief of Staff.<ref name="gallaher134" /> These men had overthrown the "hawkish" officers, who had called for a "big push", which meant an increase in violent attacks, earlier in the same month.<ref name="taylor152">Taylor, pp. 152–156</ref> The UVF was behind the deaths of seven civilians in a series of attacks on 2 October.<ref>Sutton Index of Deaths: 1975. CAIN.</ref> The hawks had been ousted by those in the UVF who were unhappy with their political and military strategy. The new Brigade Staff's aim was to carry out attacks against known republicans rather than Catholic civilians.<ref name="taylor152" /> This was endorsed by Gusty Spence, who issued a statement asking all UVF volunteers to support the new regime.<ref name="dillon53">Dillon, Martin (1989). ''The Shankill Butchers: The Real Story of Cold-Blooded Mass Murder''. New York: Routledge. p. 53</ref> The UVF's activities in the last years of the decade were increasingly being curtailed by the number of UVF members who were sent to prison.<ref name="taylor152"/> The number of killings in Northern Ireland had decreased from around 300 per year between 1973 and 1976 to just under 100 in the years 1977–1981.<ref name="taylor157">Taylor, p. 157</ref> In 1976, Tommy West was replaced with "Mr. F" who is alleged to be [[John "Bunter" Graham]], who remains the incumbent Chief of Staff to date.<ref name="moloney377" /><ref name="beltel" /> West died in 1980.

On 17 February 1979, the UVF carried out its only major attack in [[Scotland]], when its members [[Glasgow pub bombings|bombed two pubs]] in [[Glasgow]] frequented by [[Irish-Scottish people|Irish-Scots]] Catholics. Both pubs were wrecked and a number of people were wounded. It claimed the pubs were used for republican fundraising. In June, nine UVF members were convicted of the attacks.<ref>Wood, Ian S. ''Crimes of Loyalty: A History of the UDA''. Edinburgh University Press, 2006. p. 329</ref>

===Early to mid-1980s===
In the 1980s, the UVF was greatly reduced by a series of police [[informant|informer]]s. The damage from security service informers started in 1983 with [[supergrass (informer)|"supergrass"]] Joseph Bennett's information, which led to the arrest of fourteen senior figures. In 1984, the UVF attempted to kill the northern editor of the ''[[Sunday World]]'', Jim Campbell after he had exposed the paramilitary activities of Mid-Ulster brigadier [[Robin Jackson]]. Another loyalist paramilitary organisation called [[Ulster Resistance]] was formed on 10 November 1986. The initial aim of Ulster Resistance was to bring an end to the [[Anglo-Irish Agreement]]. Loyalists were successful in importing arms into Northern Ireland. The weapons were [[Palestine Liberation Organisation]] arms captured by the Israelis and sold to [[Armscor (South Africa)|Armscor]], the South African state-owned company which, in defiance of a 1977 United Nations arms embargo, set about making South Africa self-sufficient in military hardware.{{citation needed|date=April 2008}} The arms were divided between the UVF, the [[Ulster Defence Association|UDA]] (the largest loyalist group) and Ulster Resistance.<ref name="psb">{{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Taylor (Journalist) |title=Loyalists: War and Peace in Northern Ireland |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |year=1999 |pages=189–195 |isbn=0-7475-4519-7}}</ref>
[[File:Sa 58-JH02.jpg|thumb|right|The UVF received large numbers of Czechoslovak Sa vz. 58 automatic rifles in the 1980s]]
The arms are thought to have consisted of:

*200 Czechoslovak [[Sa vz. 58]] automatic rifles,
*90 [[Browning Arms Company|Browning]] pistols,
*500 [[RGD-5]] fragmentation grenades,
*30,000 rounds of ammunition and
*12 [[RPG-7]] rocket launchers and 150 warheads.

The UVF used this new infusion of arms to escalate their campaign of sectarian assassinations. This era also saw a more widespread targeting on the UVF's part of IRA and Sinn Féin members, beginning with the killing of senior IRA member [[Larry Marley]]<ref name="taylor197">Taylor, p. 197</ref> and a failed attempt on the life of a leading republican which left three Catholic civilians dead.<ref name="cusack250">Jim Cusack & Henry McDonald, ''UVF'', Poolbeg, 1997, p. 250</ref>

===Late 1980s and early 1990s===
{{see also|Provisional IRA campaign 1969-1997#Loyalists and the IRA – killing and reprisals}}

The UVF also attacked republican paramilitaries and political activists. These attacks were stepped up in the late 1980s and early 1990s, particularly in the east Tyrone and north Armagh areas. The largest death toll in a single attack was in the 3 March [[1991 Cappagh killings]], when the UVF killed IRA members John Quinn, Dwayne O'Donnell and Malcolm Nugent, and civilian Thomas Armstrong in the small village of Cappagh.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/ |title=NI Conflict Archive on the Internet |publisher=Cain.ulst.ac.uk |access-date=29 July 2009 |archive-date=8 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608072332/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Republicans responded to the attacks by assassinating senior UVF members [[John Bingham (loyalist)|John Bingham]], [[William Marchant (loyalist)|William "Frenchie" Marchant]] and [[Trevor King (loyalist)|Trevor King]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/alpha/K.html |title=CAIN |publisher=Cain.ulst.ac.uk |access-date=29 July 2009 |archive-date=8 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608065150/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/alpha/K.html |url-status=live }}</ref> as well as Leslie Dallas, whose purported UVF membership was disputed both by his family and the UVF.<ref>Ed Moloney, Secret History of the IRA, p.321</ref> The UVF also killed senior IRA paramilitary members  Liam Ryan, John 'Skipper' Burns and [[Larry Marley]].<ref>The Irish Echo</ref> According to [[Conflict Archive on the Internet]] (CAIN), the UVF killed 17 active and four former republican paramilitaries. CAIN also states that republicans killed 15 UVF members, some of whom are suspected to have been set up for assassination by their colleagues.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/crosstabs.html |title=CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths – crosstabulations |publisher=Cain.ulst.ac.uk |access-date=1 September 2011 |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>

According to journalist and author [[Ed Moloney]], the UVF campaign in Mid-[[Ulster]] in this period "indisputably shattered Republican morale", and put the leadership of the republican movement under intense pressure to "do something",<ref>"Voices From the Grave:Two Men's War in Ireland" Ed Moloney, Faber & Faber, 2010 pp 417</ref> although this has been disputed by others.{{who|date=August 2022}}

===1994 ceasefire===
In 1990, the UVF joined the [[Combined Loyalist Military Command]] (CLMC) and indicated its acceptance of moves towards peace. However, the year leading up to the loyalist ceasefire, which took place shortly after the Provisional IRA ceasefire, saw some of the worst sectarian killings carried out by loyalists during [[the Troubles]]. On 18 June 1994, UVF members machine-gunned a pub in the [[Loughinisland massacre]] in [[County Down]], on the basis that its customers were watching the [[Republic of Ireland national football team]] playing in the [[FIFA World Cup|World Cup]] on television and were therefore assumed to be Catholics. The gunmen shot dead six people and injured five.

The UVF agreed to a ceasefire in October 1994.

===Post-ceasefire activities===

====1994–2005====
More militant members of the UVF who disagreed with the ceasefire, broke away to form the [[Loyalist Volunteer Force]] (LVF), led by [[Billy Wright (loyalist)|Billy Wright]]. This development came soon after the UVF's Brigade Staff in Belfast had stood down Wright and the Portadown unit of the Mid-Ulster Brigade, on 2 August 1996, for the killing of a Catholic taxi driver near Lurgan during Drumcree disturbances.<ref name="UVF leadership">[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uvf-disbands-unit-linked-to-taxi-murder-1307867.html "UVF disbands unit linked to taxi murder"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303214334/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uvf-disbands-unit-linked-to-taxi-murder-1307867.html |date=3 March 2016 }} ''The Independent'', 3 August 1996; Retrieved 18 October 2009</ref>

[[File:Carrickfergus.jpg|thumb|right|300px|A UVF mural in [[Carrickfergus]]]]

There followed years of violence between the two organisations. In January 2000 UVF Mid-Ulster brigadier [[Richard Jameson (loyalist)|Richard Jameson]] was shot dead by a LVF gunman which led to an escalation of the UVF/LVF feud. The UVF was also clashing with the UDA in the summer of 2000. The feud with the UDA ended in December following seven deaths. Veteran anti-UVF campaigner [[Raymond McCord]], whose son, Raymond Jr., a Protestant, was beaten to death by UVF men in 1997, estimates the UVF has killed more than thirty people since its 1994 ceasefire, most of them Protestants.{{citation needed|date=October 2009}} The feud between the UVF and the LVF erupted again in the summer of 2005. The UVF killed four men in Belfast and trouble ended only when the LVF announced that it was disbanding in October of that year.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4393664.stm |date=31 October 2005 |access-date=29 July 2009 |publisher=BBC News |title='Cautious welcome' for LVF move |archive-date=16 December 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051216130355/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4393664.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 14 September 2005, following [[2005 Belfast riots|serious loyalist rioting]] during which dozens of shots were fired at riot police and the British Army, the [[Northern Ireland Secretary]] [[Peter Hain]] announced that the [[Her Majesty's Government|British government]] no longer recognised the UVF ceasefire.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4243652.stm |date=14 September 2005 |access-date=29 July 2009 |publisher=BBC News |title=Hain says UVF ceasefire is over |archive-date=12 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060612231400/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4243652.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

====2006–2010====
On 12 February 2006, ''[[The Observer]]'' reported that the UVF was to disband by the end of 2006. The newspaper also reported that the group refused to decommission its weapons.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,1708038,00.html |title=The Observer |publisher=Observer.guardian.co.uk |date=12 February 2006 |access-date=29 July 2009 |location=London |first=Henry |last=McDonald |archive-date=13 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313121852/http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,1708038,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 2 September 2006, [[BBC News]] reported the UVF might be intending to re-enter dialogue with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, with a view to decommissioning of their weapons. This move came as the organisation held high-level discussions about its future.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/5306670.stm |date=2 September 2006 |access-date=29 July 2009 |publisher=BBC News |title=Empey heralds possible UVF move |archive-date=23 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923161229/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/5306670.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 3 May 2007, following recent negotiations between the [[Progressive Unionist Party]] (PUP) and Irish [[Taoiseach]] [[Bertie Ahern]] and with [[Police Service of Northern Ireland]] (PSNI) Chief Constable [[Sir Hugh Orde]], the UVF made a statement that they would transform to a "non-military, civilianised" organisation.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6618365.stm |title=UVF Statement |publisher=BBC News |date=3 May 2007 |access-date=29 July 2009 |archive-date=17 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070917171448/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6618365.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> This was to take effect from midnight. They also stated that they would retain their weaponry but put them beyond reach of normal volunteers. Their weapons stock-piles are to be retained under the watch of the UVF leadership.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0503/uvf.html |title=RTÉ News – Statement Imminent |publisher=RTÉ.ie |date=3 May 2007 |access-date=29 July 2009 |archive-date=2 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090602205850/http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0503/uvf.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6618177.stm |title=Statement Imminent |publisher=BBC News |date=3 May 2007 |access-date=29 July 2009 |archive-date=18 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070818042245/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6618177.stm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6618371.stm |title=Statement Released |publisher=BBC News |date=3 May 2007 |access-date=29 July 2009 |archive-date=9 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009024135/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6618371.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In January 2008, the UVF was accused of involvement in [[vigilante]] action against alleged criminals in Belfast.<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>

In 2008, a loyalist splinter group calling itself the "Real UVF" emerged briefly to make threats against Sinn Féin in County Fermanagh.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/sf-condemns-real-uvf-death-threats-1.828026 |title=SF condemns 'Real UVF' death threats |newspaper=The Irish Times |access-date=23 March 2019 |archive-date=28 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928000739/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/sf-condemns-real-uvf-death-threats-1.828026 |url-status=live }}</ref><!--Incorrect link removed>-->

In the twentieth IMC report, the group was said to be continuing to put its weapons "beyond reach", (in the group's own words) to downsize, and reduce the criminality of the group. The report added that individuals, some current and some former members, in the group have, without the orders from above, continued with "localised recruitment", and although some continued to try and acquire weapons, including a senior member, most forms of crime had fallen, including shootings and assaults. The group concluded a general acceptance of the need to decommission, though there was no conclusive proof of moves towards this end.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.independentmonitoringcommission.org/documents/uploads/Twentieth%20Report.pdf |title=412882_HC 1112_Text |access-date=29 July 2009 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081218015532/http://www.independentmonitoringcommission.org/documents/uploads/Twentieth%20Report.pdf |archive-date=18 December 2008}}</ref>

In June 2009 the UVF formally decommissioned their weapons in front of independent witnesses as a formal statement of decommissioning was read by [[Dawn Purvis]] and [[Billy Hutchinson]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8121842.stm 'Loyalist Weapons "put beyond use"'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923161239/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8121842.stm |date=23 September 2021 }} – BBC News, 27 June 2009</ref> The IICD confirmed that "substantial quantities of firearms, ammunition, explosives and explosive devices" had been decommissioned and that for the UVF and RHC, decommissioning had been completed.<ref>[http://www.nio.gov.uk/report_of_the_independent_international_commission_on_decommissioning.pdf 'Report of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning'] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100218162439/http://www.nio.gov.uk/report_of_the_independent_international_commission_on_decommissioning.pdf |date=18 February 2010}} – IICD, 4 September 2009</ref>

====2010–2019====
The UVF was blamed for the shotgun killing of expelled RHC member Bobby Moffett on the Shankill Road on the afternoon of 28 May 2010, in front of passers-by including children.<ref name="moffett">{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20101019203637/http://www.independentmonitoringcommission.org/documents/uploads/Twenty-Fourth%20Report.pdf Twenty-Fourth Report of the Independent Monitoring Commission]}}</ref> The [[Independent Monitoring Commission]] stated Moffett was killed by UVF members acting with the sanction of the leadership.<ref name="moffett" /> The [[Progressive Unionist Party]]'s condemnation, and [[Dawn Purvis]] and other leaders' resignations as a response to the Moffett shooting, were also noted.<ref name="moffett" /> Eleven months later, a man was arrested and charged with the attempted murder of the UVF's alleged second-in-command [[Harry Stockman (loyalist)|Harry Stockman]], described by the ''[[Belfast Telegraph]]'' as a "senior Loyalist figure".<ref name="btmoffett">{{Cite news |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/man-critical-after-stabbing-in-tesco-28609640.html |title=Man critical after stabbing in Tesco |newspaper=Belfasttelegraph |access-date=12 July 2020 |archive-date=12 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712175828/https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/man-critical-after-stabbing-in-tesco-28609640.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="bbcmoffett">{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-20353108 |title=David Madine admits trying to kill loyalist Harry Stockman |work=BBC News |date=16 November 2012 |access-date=12 July 2020 |archive-date=12 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712162824/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-20353108 |url-status=live }}</ref> Fifty-year-old Stockman was stabbed more than 10 times in a supermarket in Belfast; the attack was believed to have been linked to the Moffett killing.<ref name="btmoffett" /><ref name="bbcmoffett" />

On 25–26 October 2010, the UVF was involved in rioting and disturbances in the Rathcoole area of Newtownabbey with UVF gunmen seen on the streets at the time.<ref name="Rathcoole">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-11636056 |publisher=BBC News |title=Police say UVF gunman seen in Rathcoole during trouble |date=27 October 2010 |access-date=22 June 2018 |archive-date=16 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916150204/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-11636056 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Moffett">{{cite news |author=28 15 May:49:41 BST 2010 |url=http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/UVF-linked-to-brutal-killing.6328552.jp |title=UVF linked to brutal killing – Local |newspaper=News Letter |access-date=1 September 2011 |archive-date=4 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100804004100/http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/UVF-linked-to-brutal-killing.6328552.jp |url-status=live }}</ref>

On the night of 20 June 2011, riots involving 500 people erupted in the [[Short Strand]] area of East [[Belfast]]. They were blamed by the PSNI on members of the UVF, who also said UVF guns had been used to try to kill police officers.<ref name=BoE>[http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/is-uvfrsquos-lsquobeast-in-the-eastrsquo-behind-new-wave-of-riots-16015101.html Is UVF’s ‘Beast in the East’ behind new wave of riots?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110626033646/http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/is-uvfrsquos-lsquobeast-in-the-eastrsquo-behind-new-wave-of-riots-16015101.html |date=26 June 2011 }}, ''[[Belfast Telegraph]]'', 23 June 2011</ref> The UVF leader in East Belfast, who is popularly known as the "Beast of the East" and "Ugly Doris" also known as by real name Stephen Matthews, ordered the attack on Catholic homes and a church in the Catholic enclave of the Short Strand. This was in retaliation for attacks on Loyalist homes the previous weekend and after a young girl was hit in the face with a brick by Republicans.<ref name=BoE/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/community-telegraph/east-belfast/news/attack-on-girl-blamed-for-trouble-16015238.html |title=Attack on girl blamed for trouble |work=Belfast Telegraph |date=23 June 2011 |access-date=1 September 2011 |archive-date=20 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020121943/http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/community-telegraph/east-belfast/news/attack-on-girl-blamed-for-trouble-16015238.html |url-status=live }}</ref> A dissident Republican was arrested for "the attempted murder of police officers in east Belfast" after shots were fired upon the police.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-13894198 |title=BBC News – Man held over East Belfast police murder bid |publisher=BBC News |date=23 June 2011 |access-date=1 September 2011 |archive-date=28 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110828071749/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-13894198 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In July 2011, a UVF flag flying in [[Limavady]] was deemed legal by the PSNI after the police had received complaints about the flag from nationalist politicians.<ref>[http://www.derryjournal.com/news/local/uvf_flag_is_legal_cops_1_2834359 UVF flag is legal-Cops] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707133716/http://www.derryjournal.com/news/local/uvf_flag_is_legal_cops_1_2834359 |date=7 July 2011 }} ''Derry Journal''</ref>

During the [[Belfast City Hall flag protests]] of 2012–13, senior UVF members were confirmed to have actively been involved in orchestrating violence and rioting against the PSNI and the Alliance Party throughout Northern Ireland during the weeks of disorder.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.u.tv/news/UVF-members-behind-flag-trouble/88468242-4c5a-4e07-a3c4-3dba8ad46ed4|title=UVF members 'behind flag trouble'|work=u.tv|access-date=20 November 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129151851/http://www.u.tv/news/UVF-members-behind-flag-trouble/88468242-4c5a-4e07-a3c4-3dba8ad46ed4|archive-date=29 November 2014}}</ref> Much of the UVF's orchestration was carried out by its senior members in East Belfast, where many attacks on the PSNI and on residents of the Short Strand enclave took place.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} There were also reports that UVF members fired shots at police lines during a protest.<ref name=McKittrick130107>{{cite news |last=McKittrick |first=David |date=7 January 2013 |title=Surge in Belfast violence blamed on resurgent UVF |url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/surge-in-belfast-violence-blamed-on-resurgent-uvf-29011837.html |newspaper=Belfast Telegraph |access-date=31 July 2014 |archive-date=8 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808055659/http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/surge-in-belfast-violence-blamed-on-resurgent-uvf-29011837.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The high levels of orchestration by the leadership of the East Belfast UVF, and the alleged ignored orders from the main leaders of the UVF to stop the violence has led to fears that the East Belfast UVF has now become a separate loyalist paramilitary grouping which doesn't abide by the UVF ceasefire or the Northern Ireland Peace Process.<ref name=McAleese130111>{{cite news |last=McAleese |first=Deborah |date=11 January 2013 |title=The Beast from East Belfast could put an end to flags violence right now... but he won't |url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/the-beast-from-east-belfast-could-put-an-end-to-flags-violence-right-now-but-he-wont-29013680.html |newspaper=Belfast Telegraph |access-date=31 July 2014 |archive-date=8 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808052645/http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/the-beast-from-east-belfast-could-put-an-end-to-flags-violence-right-now-but-he-wont-29013680.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://sluggerotoole.com/2011/06/24/east-belfast-uvf-mission-accomplished/|title=East Belfast UVF: Mission Accomplished?|work=Slugger O'Toole|access-date=20 November 2014|archive-date=29 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129023640/http://sluggerotoole.com/2011/06/24/east-belfast-uvf-mission-accomplished/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In October 2013, the policing board announced that the UVF was still heavily involved in gangsterism despite its ceasefire. Assistant chief constable Drew Harris in a statement said "The UVF are subject to an organised crime investigation as an organised crime group. The UVF very clearly have involvement in drug dealing, all forms of gangsterism, serious assaults, intimidation of the community."<ref name="BBC News" />

In November 2013, after a series of shootings and acts of intimidation by the UVF, Police Federation Chairman Terry Spence declared that the UVF ceasefire was no longer active. Spence told Radio Ulster that the UVF had been "engaged in murder, attempted murder of civilians, attempted murder of police officers. They have been engaged in orchestrating violence on our streets, and it's very clear to me that they are engaged in an array of mafia-style activities. "They are holding local communities to ransom. On the basis of that, we as a federation have called for the respecification of the UVF [stating that its ceasefire is over]."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/18/ulster-volunteer-force-ceasefire-police |title=Ulster Volunteer Force is no longer on ceasefire, police warn |author=Henry McDonald |work=The Guardian |date=18 November 2013 |access-date=20 November 2014 |archive-date=29 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129074149/http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/18/ulster-volunteer-force-ceasefire-police |url-status=live }}</ref>

In June 2017, [[Gary Haggarty]], former UVF commander for north Belfast and south-east Antrim, pleaded guilty to 200 charges, including five murders.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-40379903 |title=Gary Haggarty: Ex-senior loyalist pleads guilty to 200 terror charges |date=23 June 2017 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=2017-06-23 |archive-date=24 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181024162220/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-40379903 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 23 March 2019, eleven alleged UVF members were arrested during a total of 14 searches conducted in Belfast, [[Newtownards]] and [[Comber]] and the suspects, aged between 22 and 48, were taken into police custody for questioning. Officers from the PSNI's Paramilitary Crime Task Force also seized drugs, cash and expensive cars and jewellery in an operation carried out against the criminal activities of the UVF crime gang.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/police-seize-drugs-and-arrest-11-during-raids-on-east-belfast-uvf-37942445.html |title=Police seize drugs and arrest 11 during raids on east Belfast UVF |work=Belfast Telegraph |access-date=2019-06-24 |archive-date=25 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190625021622/https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/police-seize-drugs-and-arrest-11-during-raids-on-east-belfast-uvf-37942445.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/nine-men-charged-after-east-belfast-uvf-police-raids-37943520.html |title=Nine men charged after east Belfast UVF police raids |work=Belfast Telegraph |access-date=2019-06-24 |archive-date=25 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190625021622/https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/nine-men-charged-after-east-belfast-uvf-police-raids-37943520.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===2020s===
On 4 March 2021, the UVF, Red Hand Commando and UDA renounced their current participation in the Good Friday Agreement.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-03-04|title=Brexit: loyalist paramilitary groups renounce Good Friday agreement|url=http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/04/brexit-northern-ireland-loyalist-armies-renounce-good-friday-agreement|access-date=2021-04-11|website=The Guardian|language=en|archive-date=10 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410145233/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/04/brexit-northern-ireland-loyalist-armies-renounce-good-friday-agreement|url-status=live}}</ref>

In April 2021, [[2021 Northern Ireland riots|riots erupted]] across Loyalist communities in Northern Ireland.{{relevance inline|date=June 2022}}<ref>{{Cite news|date=2021-04-11|title=NI riots: What is behind the violence in Northern Ireland?|language=en-GB|publisher=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-56664378|access-date=2021-04-11|archive-date=12 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412224832/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-56664378|url-status=live}}</ref> On 11 April, the UVF reportedly ordered the removal of [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] families from a housing estate in [[Carrickfergus]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=UVF orders removal of Catholic families from Carrickfergus housing estate in '21st century form of ethnic cleansing'|language=en-GB|work=Belfast Telegraph|url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sunday-life/news/uvf-orders-removal-of-catholic-families-from-carrickfergus-housing-estate-in-21st-century-form-of-ethnic-cleansing-40297946.html|access-date=2021-04-11|issn=0307-1235|archive-date=12 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412143808/https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sunday-life/news/uvf-orders-removal-of-catholic-families-from-carrickfergus-housing-estate-in-21st-century-form-of-ethnic-cleansing-40297946.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The UVF was suspected of organising a hoax bomb attack targeting a "peace-building" event in Belfast where Irish Foreign Minister [[Simon Coveney]] was speaking on 27 March 2022.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-03-31 |title=Simon Coveney alert: Darren Service in court over bomb hoax |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-60945413 |access-date=2024-07-10 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=O'Carroll |first=Lisa |date=2022-03-25 |title=Loyalist paramilitaries suspected as hoax device disrupts Irish minister's Belfast speech |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/mar/25/irish-foreign-minister-simon-coveney-belfast-security-alert |access-date=2024-07-10 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Armed men hijacked a van on the nearby Shankill Road and forced the driver to take a device to a church on the Crumlin Road. The community centre hosting the event and 25 nearby homes were evacuated and a funeral was disrupted. A controlled explosion was carried out and the bomb was declared a hoax.

On 26 March 2022, the UVF was linked to a hoax bomb alert at a bar in Warrenpoint, County Down.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

The  group also continues to carry out racist and sectarian attacks against Black people and Eastern Europeans in Northern Ireland. The police stated the group had contributed to a 70% rise in hate crime: "It has a deeply unpleasant taste of a bit of ethnic cleansing."<ref>{{Cite news |date=2014-04-03 |title=UVF 'behind racist attacks in Belfast' |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-26871331 |access-date=2023-04-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=More Polish homes targeted by racist thugs in fresh bout of 'ethnic cleansing' by UVF |language=en-GB |work=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/more-polish-homes-targeted-by-racist-thugs-in-fresh-bout-of-ethnic-cleansing-by-uvf/30245563.html |access-date=2023-04-20 |issn=0307-1235}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=UVF 'behind racist attacks in south and east Belfast': Loyalist paramilitary group behind attacks says PSNI |language=en-GB |work=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/uvf-behind-racist-attacks-in-south-and-east-belfast-loyalist-paramilitary-group-behind-attacks-says-psni/30153199.html |access-date=2023-04-20}}</ref>