Orange Volunteers (1972)

The group was established in or around 1972 as a paramilitary movement for members of the Orange Order. Members met in Orange Halls and were drawn exclusively from the Orange Order. The group also had a presence in West Belfast in the Shankill Road area. in September 1972 at a Vanguard rally in Woodvale Park "rows" of uniformed OV members stood beside the speakers' platform as the former junior Minister of Home Affairs John Taylor gave a speech. Following their formation the group was endorsed by leading Orangeman George Watson. However, the Reverend Martin Smyth was not prepared to fully associate the Orange Order with a paramilitary group and so the OV did not receive its official public endorsement. OV leader Bob Marno stated the organisation had a "friendly relationship" with the Orange Order who "were aware of our existence and activities. A newspaper report on Loyalist paramilitaries described the group as "in effect, the military wing of the Orange Order. Marno represented the OV on the Ulster Army Council following the establishment of that group in 1973. ==Activities==

According to Steve Bruce the group carried out a bombing on a Belfast pub in 1973 but otherwise did little publicly of note. In 1977 a pair of OV members from Antrim pleaded guilty to storing arms. However, they only received suspended sentences. When asked about their activities, Marno claimed the group's targets were always "known Republicans". In April 1973 their name was attached, along with those of the UVF, the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and Red Hand Commando (RHC), to a series of posters that appeared in loyalist areas of West Belfast threatening violence to racketeers, particularly those claiming to be paramilitaries. In October 1974 three men were sentenced for the armed robbery of a milk float on behalf of the Orange Volunteers in May the previous year. In 1972 the Belfast Command of the OV claimed British government plans to introduce proportional representation for local council elections in Northern Ireland were "a further step in the downward path of appeasement, designed to placate a rebellious minority." Its members were active during the Ulster Workers' Council strike of 1974. ==Decline==

Following the strike, the group helped to form the Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee, which replaced the Ulster Army Council in 1974. In February 1976 the Orange Volunteers claimed Hugh Woodside, a Protestant man shot dead by the British Army during an altercation on the Shankill Road, as a member of the organisation. The group was still in existence in 1977, when Marno was replaced as leader by Jackie Campbell. It supported the United Ulster Unionist Council strike that year. This stoppage, which attempted to replicate the successes of 1974, had little impact. Bob Marno told the Belfast Telegraph in 1980 that the group was dormant. During the 1981 hunger strike by republican paramilitary prisoners, the Ulster Army Council claimed to have reformed and threatened a renewed campaign of violence. The press statement listed the Orange Volunteers and former B-Specials as members. In early 1986 it was reported that the OV had "reactivated" in response to the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement and could claim 700 members. It was reported upon the founding of Ulster Resistance that the OV had aligned itself to the new paramilitary organisation. A separate organisation calling itself the Orange Volunteers emerged in 1998 although members of the original OV disassociated themselves from this new group, claiming that, apart from the name, there was no connection. ==References==