April 1966: Foundation of the Ulster Constitution Defence Committee (UCDC)
The governing body of the loyalist Ulster Protestant Volunteers (UPV).
In a month when the Soviet Union’s Luna 10 became the first spacecraft to orbit the moon, their underground nuclear tests grabbed all the headlines; over 2,000 miles across the Baltic and North Seas in Northern Ireland, Ian Paisley established and became the chairman of the UCDC. The UCDC was widely regarded as the governing body of the loyalist paramilitary group the Ulster Protestant Volunteers (UPV). They coordinated parades, counter-demonstrations and paramilitary activities to maintain the government status quo, campaigning against Terence O’Neill’s reforms and obstructing the civil rights movement. Paisley was a fundamentalist Presbyterian, a member of the Orange Order and supported the Unionist Party platform. Fundamentalists were seen to be promoting ‘traditional unionism’, and subsequently encouraged the advantages that protestants enjoyed in the jobs and housing sectors.
The UCDC was created in direct opposition to Terence O’Neill (Prime Minister of Northern Ireland), who, at the time, was working tirelessly to modernise industry in Northern Ireland to help keep a pending economic depression at bay. This meant that he liaised with Sean Lemass (Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland) to help promote economic cooperation. To the unionists in Northern Ireland, this threatened the predominantly protestant workforce, which accounted for around 90% of the jobs, as this would result in an upsurge in the employment of Catholics.
When establishing the UCDC, Paisley met with other loyalists, such as Noel Doherty (former leader of the Ulster Protestant Volunteers in the late 1960s), where he not only became chairman but also created a ‘12 man united society of Protestant patriots’, who become known as ‘The 12 Disciples’. They pledged “by all lawful methods to uphold and maintain the constitution of Northern Ireland”.
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The UCDC made their first public appearance on the 17th of April 1966 in a parade on the Shankill Road in West Belfast. Paisley was accompanied by Doherty as well as the leader of the new rejuvenated UVF, Gusty Spence.
The UCDC was known for their campaign materials, which made it very clear who its target audience was, as well as the objectives it hoped to achieve.
Thanks Jim, glad you’re enjoying it. Every day’s a school day. Cheers for the heads up 😀
Hello Dan,
What a great site! Do you know if that crackpot Ulster-Israelite Alan Campbell, later a so-called pastor, was one of Paisley's "Twelve Disciples"? He was on the committee of the UCDC, I believe. All the best, Jim