Orange Volunteers

Relatively little is known about the Orange Volunteers, a Northern Irish terrorist organization that has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks on Roman Catholics beginning in 1998.

Since the late 1960s, Northern Ireland, a province of Great Britain, has experienced steady and violent conflict between Catholics, who wish Northern Ireland to become part of the Republic of Ireland, and Protestants, who wish it to remain a part of the United Kingdom. Both communities fostered armed paramilitary groups that were prepared to use violence to achieve their ends. In the early 1970s, a Protestant paramilitary group known as the Orange Volunteers, led by former British soldier Bob Marno, was formed. Members claimed responsibility for some murders of Catholics between 1974 and 1977, but the Orange Volunteers were principally known for its association with the 1974 Ulster Worker's Council (UWC) strike. This strike had ...