Inside the U D A: Volunteers and Violence

Providing an insight into the beliefs and political ideology of the Ulster Defence Assocation (UDA) and the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), this book features interviews with key members of these paramilitary groups, many conducted inside the Maze prison. Colin Crawford presents a painstaking analysis of Loyalism and the role that the Loyalist paramilitary groups continue to play in Northern Ireland’s troubles, providng an insider’s account of the workings of state-sponsored terrorism. Crawford explores these tensions and assesses the difficulties that the UDA faces in the wake of the Good Friday Agreement. He analyses the Ulster Democratic Party’s failure to win seats in the 1998 elections, and he examines the conflict between those who are motivated by the profits of crime and drug trafficking, and those motivated by political ideals.