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Ulster Defence Regiment
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==Political controversy== [[File:UDR political poster.jpg|thumb|upright|Protest poster against the UDR]] The Ulster Defence Regiment commanded uncritically fierce support from most Protestants in Northern Ireland but never gained the confidence of the Roman Catholic minority.<ref name=autogenerated8>Ryder p.xvii</ref> This can partially be explained by the failure to attract and retain Catholics, and partially by the sectarian culture and character of the regiment, which became explicit following the introduction of internment without trial of suspected Irish Republicans after 1971.<ref name=autogenerated8 /> Initially, the Nationalist political parties at [[Parliament of Northern Ireland|Stormont]] encouraged Catholics to join.<ref>Ryder p32</ref> The first notable change to this was caused by the Parliament of Northern Ireland's decision to introduce internment. None of those initially interned were Protestant, which led Catholics to understand that this was a measure directed entirely against their community.<ref name=autogenerated6>Potter p56</ref> For the UDR it meant an increase in Republican propaganda against the regiment.<ref name=autogenerated6 /> After the introduction of internment, Catholic support for the regiment plummeted and the few Catholic soldiers that remained faced intimidation from their own communities.<ref name=autogenerated18 /> Incidents where British troops killed Catholic civilians, such as the [[Ballymurphy massacre|Ballymurphy]] and Bloody Sunday massacres (which occurred in August 1971 and January 1972 respectively) also served to convince Catholics that the UDR was a sectarian force. In 1971, 25% of the UDR's Catholic soldiers chose to be discharged from the regiment.<ref name="Potter60" /><ref>{{cite web | last=Blevins | first=David | title=Ballymurphy inquest: 10 innocent people killed without justification, coroner finds | website=Sky News | date=2021-05-11 | url=https://news.sky.com/story/ballymurphy-inquest-10-innocent-people-shot-without-justification-coroner-finds-12303411 | access-date=2021-11-18}}</ref> During 1972, another 108 Catholic soldiers chose to be discharged.<ref name=":1" /> The [[Social Democratic and Labour Party]] (SDLP)'s [[Ivan Cooper]] said in a 1972 statement that the regiment "should be disbanded".<ref name=autogenerated7 /> The [[Alliance Party of Northern Ireland|Alliance Party]]'s chairman [[Oliver Napier]] expressed concern about "undesirables" in the regiment in a statement in November 1972.<ref name=autogenerated7 /> The SDLP called for full disbandment of the regiment as early as 1974 through the media and by applying pressure through the [[Government of Ireland|Irish government]] and became the major conduit for complaints against the UDR from Catholics.<ref>Potter pp157, 269</ref> The SDLP remained opposed to the regiment and continually called for its disbandment "due to the failure of the GOC to address the issue of Catholic recruiting and the regimental image". Although no official support was evident from the party leaderships various members (for example [[Seamus Mallon]]), condemned the killing of UDR soldiers and attended funerals, such as in the case of James Cochrane, a Catholic soldier from 3 UDR in Downpatrick who was killed in a culvert bomb attack on 6 January 1980.<ref>Potter p223</ref> After the [[Anglo-Irish Agreement|Hillsborough Agreement]] the [[Democratic Unionist Party]] (DUP) began a campaign with the apparent motive of reducing morale in the regiment and causing mass resignations by undermining the confidence of soldiers in their officers. During this period Ian Paisley announced to the press that soldiers in [[Ballymena]] had been requested to report to barracks to be disarmed prior to the part-time cadre being disbanded. The DUP press office claimed that the use of English officers and senior NCOs was "London and Dublin insisting the UDR could not be trusted".<ref name=Potter2901>Potter 2001, pp. 290β91</ref> and [[Peter Robinson (Northern Ireland politician)|Peter Robinson]], the deputy DUP Leader, advised soldiers not to co-operate with policemen who were attached to their patrols as they were there on the directions of the Anglo-Irish Council.<ref>Potter p290</ref> A military assessment in 1981 had concluded there was no long-term requirement for the UDR except for possibly a role in home defence. Any British government doubts about the future viability of the regiment were kept secret for fear of provoking a Unionist backlash and prompting the formation of new Unionist paramilitary groups.<ref name=":IT1">{{cite news|title=British concerned over UDR credibility|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/british-concerned-over-udr-credibility-1.2913026|date=2 January 2017|access-date=31 October 2021}}</ref> Ulster Unionist MP Ken Maginnis interviewed for a BBC Panorama documentary in 1990 opined that disbanding the UDR would lead an increase in Loyalist paramilitary activity and the setting up of other paramilitary organisations.<ref name=":PAN1">{{cite AV media | date = 19 February 1990 | title = Panorama, Ulster's Regiment: A Question of Loyalty | type = Television documentary | language = English | publisher = BBC }}</ref> The UDR's sectarian image received corroboration from an unlikely source in February 1985 when Ulster Unionist leader [[James Molyneaux]] privately informed a [[Northern Ireland Office]] official of his "concern about the way in which some UDR patrols abused their position in relation to members of the Catholic community".<ref name=":IT1"/> The weekly republican newspaper [[An Phoblacht]] carried reports highlighting what it saw as naked state oppression. In its editorials An Phoblacht referred to the UDR as, "not Dad's Army but a sectarian militia".<ref name="anphoblacht1">{{cite news|url=http://www.anphoblacht.com/contents/1057 |title=The UDR β not Dad's Army but a sectarian militia |newspaper=An Phoblacht |date=2011-08-18 |access-date=2013-07-17}}</ref> To help emphasise their message they produced posters which supporters pasted over walls in Republican areas such as "The Loyalist Murderers"<ref name="anphoblacht1"/> and "Blood Money,"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://saoirse32.dreamwidth.org/2070654.html |title=SAOIRSE32 β Blood money |publisher=Saoirse32.dreamwidth.org |date=2006-03-10 |access-date=2013-07-17}}</ref> referring to the redundancy payments received by former UDR soldiers still serving with the Royal Irish Regiment at the end of Operation Banner<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1512593/Enhanced-pay-off-for-Royal-Irish-Regiment-soldiers.html | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | first=Tom | last=Peterkin | title=Enhanced pay-off for Royal Irish Regiment soldiers | date=10 March 2006}}</ref> (The official army title for operations in Northern Ireland). An Phoblacht claimed that the UDR had secret "death squads" sponsored by [[United Kingdom Special Forces]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.anphoblacht.com/contents/4575 |title=UDR men acted as covert British death squad |newspaper=An Phoblacht |access-date=2013-07-17}}</ref> and that members of the UDR (in collusion with [[British Intelligence]]) were behind the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.anphoblacht.com/contents/4862 |title=Dublin/Monaghan bombings cover-up |newspaper=An Phoblacht |date=1999-04-29 |access-date=2013-07-17}}</ref> Journalist [[Ed Moloney]], author of several books on The Troubles, described the UDR as a "largely Protestant militia".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Moloney|first=Edmund|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zZ84DgAAQBAJ&pg=PT308|title=Voices from the Grave: Two Men's War in Ireland|date=1 June 2010|publisher=Hachette UK|isbn=9781586489335|language=en}}</ref>
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