In 1994 it was one of several loyalist organisations, including the Red Hand Commando (RHC) and UDA, that called ceasefires.<\/p>\n
Since then the organisation has been linked to the killing of around 30 people.<\/p>\n
In 2007 it, along with the RHC, stated its intention to assume a \u201cnon-military, civilianised, role\u201d and two years later both groups were involved in a decommissioning process claiming they had put their weapons beyond use. <\/p>\n It is thought that millions of pounds have been poured into groups linked to paramilitary organisations since the 1990s.<\/p>\n It is understood that despite this, the UVF has retained much of its paramilitary structure. <\/p>\n The group is also believed to be heavily involved in drug dealing and other forms of criminality in loyalist districts across the north.<\/p>\n Dr Aaron Edwards, a leading authority on loyalism, has reported that the organisation\u2019s leadership is now close to a deal with the British government on what is being called a \u201cGeneral Order of Disbandment\u201d.<\/p>\n Dr Edwards, author of \u2018UVF: Behind the Mask\u2019, says the group\u2019s leadership wants to retain 30-40 active members in each of its \u2018battalion areas\u2019 to act as a \u201cpraetorian guard\u201d \u2013 or \u201cclose protection team\u201d for prominent members.<\/p>\n Dr Edwards added, on his blog, that the small groups of remaining UVF members will be styled as \u201cveterans associations\u201d.<\/p>\n The academic said this will be seen by leading members of the group as a means of \u201cdealing with the issue of criminality\u201d.<\/p>\n The planned disbandment will not include any further decommissioning, Dr Edwards said.<\/p>\n Despite being on ceasefire the UVF has also been linked to high-profile incidents in recent years.<\/p>\n In March 2022 the PSNI blamed the group for a hoax bomb alert targeting Irish government minister Simon Coveney during a visit to north Belfast to attend a peace building event.<\/p>\n The incident has been linked to opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol, which puts an economic border down the Irish Sea, and is bitterly opposed by loyalists.<\/p>\n The organisation\u2019s Mid Ulster unit was also linked to a hoax alert at a bar in Warrenpoint, Co Down, around the same time.<\/p>\n In June 2022 prominent loyalist Winston \u2018Winkie\u2019 Irvine, a leading figure in the Loyalist Communities Council, was arrested by police investigating the Coveney hoax alert.<\/p>\n In May this year he was jailed for 15 months after he was caught with a haul of weapons in the boot of his car.<\/p>\n A co-accused also received a jail sentence.<\/p>\n The UVF has also faced internal difficulties over recent years.<\/p>\n In 2023 the group\u2019s command structure in east Belfast was stood down and replaced by its Shankill Road leadership.<\/p>\n It was reported last month that loyalists had planned to announce the dismantling of all paramilitary structures in the autumn.<\/p>\n Last month, Lord John Alderdice, a former Alliance Party leader and chair of the Independent Monitoring Commission, which was closed down in 2011, told the BBC the loyalist paramilitary transition has not worked.<\/p>\n \u201cA halt should be called, and you can\u2019t call a halt now sooner than today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere comes a point when you have to say no, this hasn\u2019t been delivered.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not going to be delivered. And, actually, by continuing we are making it worse.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The UVF is preparing to disband more than 30 years after it called a ceasefire as part of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":240067,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[1144,16,15,6569],"class_list":{"0":"post-240066","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-northern-ireland","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom","11":"tag-uvf"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114800599378313749","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240066\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/240067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"UVF](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1751718010_5_6SSHOUITTJATZES76UMLXQY3KY.jpeg\")
<\/a>![\"EA](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1751718010_439_PJQPKPXLXNAB3A7EFWZRFF2BXM.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Dr](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/ODHJONLBY5MJXJ75Q5POSJXMWE.jpg\")
Dr Aaron Edwards <\/p>\n