Editing Ulster Defence Association (section)

===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]?".