Young Citizen Volunteers (1972)

The Young Citizen Volunteers of Ireland, or Young Citizen Volunteers (YCV) for short, was a loyalist paramilitary organisation for loyalist youths which later became the youth wing of Ulster loyalist paramilitary group the Ulster Volunteer Force. It appropriated the name of the original Young Citizen Volunteers formed in 1912 as a British civic organisation.

The modern UVF was established in Belfast's Shankill Road area by Gusty Spence and others in 1966. The new group quickly undertook a sectarian campaign of arson and murder.^[1] During the early 1970s a group of loyalist youths who supported local football teams congregated on the Shankill Road and were regularly involved in clashes with the nationalist Unity Flats area on their way to and from football matches. One of their number was Billy Hutchinson who was close to the UVF and who organised these youths into a new UVF youth group, resurrecting the old YCV name in the process.^[2] Along with Billy Spence, Hutchinson oversaw a recruitment drive for the new group, which expanded quickly in its first few years of existence.^[3] The reformation of the YCV had been organised by Gusty Spence following his escape from prison, which dates the event to 1972.^[4]

Activities

Activities carried out by the YCV included throwing petrol bombs at Catholic homes.^[5] Writer Tim Pat Coogan has compared it to the Fianna Éireann and Ulster Young Militants (UYM), with all three characterised as "a military scouting movement which acts as a youthful recruiting agency" for the respective paramilitary group.^[6] In late 1974 the head of the YCV, who was not identified, even became the Chief of Staff of the UVF itself after a power struggle with the incumbent Ken Gibson.^[7] The group expanded beyond Belfast into other UVF areas, notably Mid-Ulster where Billy Wright joined the group at around the age of 14.^[8] Eddie Kinner, who went to hold leading positions in both the UVF and the Progressive Unionist Party, was also a member and demonstrated his support by sporting the initials YCV on his school bag.^[9]

In late 1974 two Catholics, Michael Loughran and Eddie Morgan, were shot and killed by two YCV members, Billy Hutchinson and Thomas Winstone, on the Falls Road.^[10] During the subsequent trial, at which both defendants were convicted of murder, a Royal Ulster Constabulary officer giving evidence stated that the YCV had been reformed solely as a sectarian group to kill Catholics.^[5]

Although their profile fell somewhat after Hutchinson's imprisonment the YCV continued to exist alongside the UVF for the duration of the Troubles and beyond. In 2001 it was reported by Pastor Jack McKee, a born-again Christian preacher noted for his anti-paramilitary activity, that in secondary schools around the Shankill some pupils had to be let out at different times and from different gates depending on whether they were members of the YCV or UYM, due to a loyalist feud that was ongoing between the UVF and the UDA West Belfast Brigade.^[11]

Along with those of the UVF and the Red Hand Commando (RHC), YCV flags are regularly carried by loyalist flute band colour parties during the marching season, particularly in Belfast.^[12]

The YCV is not listed a proscribed organisation by the British government although its UVF parent organisation is included on the list.^[13]

v t e Ulster Volunteer Force
During the Troubles
Chiefs of Staff	Gusty Spence (1966) Samuel McClelland (1966–1973) Jim Hanna (1973–1974) Ken Gibson (1974) Unnamed Chief of Staff (1974–1975) Tommy West (1975–1976) John "Bunter" Graham (1976-date)
Belfast Brigade members	Robert Bates John Bingham Frankie Curry David Ervine Billy Giles Mark Haddock Billy Hutchinson Trevor King Bobby McKee Jackie Mahood William "Frenchie" Marchant Billy Mitchell William Moore John Murphy Lenny Murphy Clifford Peeples Brian Robinson George Seawright Robert "Squeak" Seymour William Smith Billy Spence Harry "Harmless" Stockman James "Tonto" Watt
Mid-Ulster Brigade members	Harris Boyle Mark "Swinger" Fulton William James Fulton Billy Hanna Robin Jackson Richard Jameson Robin King Billy McCaughey Robert McConnell David Alexander Mulholland Lindsay Robb Wesley Somerville John Weir Billy Wright
Red Hand Commando members	Frankie Curry Billy Elliot John McKeague Winston Churchill Rea Wiliam Smith Michael Stone
Units and groups	Glenanne gang Shankill Butchers Protestant Action Force Young Citizen Volunteers
Actions	RTÉ Studio bombing (1969) Battle of St Matthew's (1970) McGurk's Bar bombing (1971) Battle at Springmartin (1972) Imperial Hotel bombing (1972) Belturbet bombing (1972) 1972 and 1973 Dublin bombings Rose & Crown Bar bombing (1974) Dublin and Monaghan bombings (1974) 1975 Conway's Bar attack (1975) Bleary Darts Club shooting (1975) Strand Bar bombing (1975) Miami Showband killings (1975) Donnelly's Bar and Kay's Tavern attacks (1975) October 1975 Northern Ireland attacks Reavey and O'Dowd killings (1976) Hillcrest Bar bombing (1976) Charlemont pub attacks (1976) Chlorane Bar attack (1976) Ramble Inn attack (1976) Glasgow pub bombings (1979) Avenue Bar shooting (1988) 1991 Cappagh killings (1991) 1991 Drumbeg killings 1991 Craigavon killings Loughinisland massacre (1994) 1994 Dublin-Belfast train bombing (1994) Quinn brothers' killings (1998) Murders of Andrew Robb and David McIlwaine (2000)
Prominent victims	Jim Hanna (1974) John Francis Green (1975) Billy Hanna (1975) The Miami Showband (1975) Maire Drumm (1976) Larry Marley (1987) Martin Doherty (1994) Jackie Coulter (2000) Tommy English (2000)
Related articles	Combined Loyalist Military Command Loyalist feud Loyalist Volunteer Force Progressive Unionist Party Tara Ulster Army Council Ulster Constitution Defence Committee Ulster loyalism Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee Ulster Volunteers Ulster Workers' Council strike Volunteer (Ulster loyalist) Volunteer Political Party
bold indicates brigadiers and commanders

Young Citizen Volunteers (1972)

Activities

See also

References

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