Key facts about the UDR/Royal Irish Regiment
The Ulster Defence Regiment was established in April 1970. In the
first month almost half of the applicants to join the UDR came from
the notorious B Specials.
By May 1972 almost two-and-a-half thousand former B Specials had been
recruited into the UDR. Between 1970-'75 over 500 nationalists were
killed in sectarian gun and bomb attacks. In the first ten years of
the UDR's existence nearly 200 members were convicted, many for
offences linked to a sectarian murder campaign.
In the 1980's, following recommendations by Maurice Oldfield, former
head of MI6 and Intelligence co-ordinator in the Six counties, the
UDR was given its own comprehensive intelligence department.
By the mid 1980's over 120 members of the UDR were convicted of a
range of offences including supplying information to loyalist death
squads. Collusion within the UDR became so blatant that the British
government was forced to implement the Steven's inquiry in October
1987. During the course of that inquiry it was estimated that the
personal details of over 2,000 nationalists had passed into the hands
of loyalist killers. The vast majority of these documents had gone
`missing' from UDR bases.
In the early 1990s public disgrace forced the British government to
rename the UDR. It is now known as the Royal Irish Regiment.
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