The name Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) has a history going back to before the First World War and the Home Rule Crisis.
However, today’s ‘modern’ UVF was formed in 1965, stemming from Unionist concerns over civil rights marches.
Some feared that the marches were a front for republicanism opposing the existence of Northern Ireland.
Since 1966, the UVF has killed over 500 people, the vast majority Catholic civilians.
The group killed the first victim of the troubles – an elderly protestant woman, when a petrol bomb intended for a Catholic owned bar on the Shankill spread to her home.
The history of the UVF is intertwined with Gusty Spence. He confounded the organisation and was key in deciding its tactics.
The ex-British Army soldier from the Shankill eventually became the UVF commander in the Maze Prison.
Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Aaron Edwards, author of ‘UVF: Behind the mask’ to discuss the origins of the modern UVF, the role of Gusty Spence and the first five years of the organization.
Gusty Spence and the brutal beginnings of the modern UVF
