C Company

Ulster Defence Association
Participant in the Troubles
Emblem of the Ulster Defence Association
Active	September 1971 – present (on ceasefire since October 1994; ended armed campaign in November 2007)
Ideology	Ulster loyalism Protestantism British unionism Right-wing politics Ulster nationalism (briefly) Anti-Catholicism
Groups	Ulster Young Militants (youth wing) Ulster Political Research Group (political wing)
Leaders	Charles Harding Smith (1971–1973) Jim Anderson de facto (April–December 1972); joint chairman (December 1972 to spring 1973) Andy Tyrie (1973–1988) John McMichael (Commander of the UFF until 1987) Inner Council: Jackie McDonald, Johnny Adair, Jim Gray, Andre Shoukri, James Simpson, South East Antrim Commander John Gregg, Billy McFarland, Matt Kincaid
Headquarters	Belfast
Area of operations	Northern Ireland (mostly) Republic of Ireland
Size	40,000 at its peak (1972)*over 5000 at the end of its armed campaign
Allies	Loyalist Volunteer Force Red Hand Defenders (until 2002)
Opponents	Irish Republican Army Irish National Liberation Army Irish People's Liberation Organization Irish republicans Irish nationalists
Designated as a terrorist organisation by
United Kingdom
Flag

The Ulster Defence Association (abbreviated UDA) is the largestUlster loyalist paramilitary and vigilante group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 and undertook an armed campaign of almost twenty four years as one of the participants of the Troubles. For most of this time it was a legal organisation. Its declared goal was to defend Ulster Protestant loyalist areas and to combat Irish republicanism, particularly the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). In the 1970s, uniformed UDA members openly patrolled these areas armed with batons and held large marches and rallies. Within the UDA was a group tasked with launching paramilitary attacks; it used the cover name Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) so that the UDA would not be outlawed. The British government outlawed the "UFF" in November 1973, but the UDA itself was not proscribed as a terrorist group until August 1992.

The UDA/UFF was responsible for more than 400 deaths. The vast majority of its victims were Irish Catholic civilians, killed at random, in what the group called retaliation for IRA actions or attacks on Protestants. High-profile attacks carried out by the group include the Milltown massacre, the Sean Graham's and James Murray's bookmakers' shootings, the Castlerock killings and the Greysteel massacre. Most of its attacks were in Northern Ireland, but from 1972 onward it also carried out bombings in the Republic of Ireland. The UDA/UFF declared a ceasefire in 1994 and ended its campaign in 2007, but some of its members have continued to engage in violence. The other main loyalist paramilitary group during the conflict was the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). All three groups are Proscribed Organisations in the United Kingdom under the Terrorism Act 2000.