Roy Garland
Encyclopedia
Roy Garland is a newspaper columnist for the nationalist Irish News and a member of the Ulster Unionist Party
.
was a front for the IRA
and Roman Catholic Church
and that its activities would lead to the persecution of Protestants. As a result he got deeply involved in paramilitarism, Orangeism
and Unionism. At that time one of the organisations Garland supported was Tara
, a movement, led by William McGrath
, which espoused extreme anti-Catholic views. In the late 60s, he worked closely with the UVF in an attempt the strengthen links between the two groups. Garland later became a prominent opponent of McGrath and helped expose his involvement in the Kincora Boys' Home scandal.
Some years later, Garland had grave doubts about the direction in which the Orange Order and the Ulster Unionist Party
(UUP) were going and he left both organisations. According to Garland, "...there was a lot of twisting of the rules, and also I heard stories about people within our organisation attacking Catholics and I felt that this wasn't right, this was not the war, you know, to protect ourselves - this was actually an aggressive war."
Garland subsequently returned to the UUP, aiming to support a non-sectarian unionism. However he is a vocal opponent of closer links between the UUP and the Conservative Party
, and was in October 2009 described as one of "four older men who no longer play an active role in the party."
He inherited his family's cleaning-products business, and is now a journalist and writer for the Irish News. He is also the author of several books including Gusty Spence
and The Ulster Volunteer Force: Negotiating history.
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
.
Career
In the 1960s, Garland became convinced that the Northern Ireland civil rights movementNorthern Ireland Civil Rights Association
The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association was an organisation which campaigned for equal civil rights for the all the people in Northern Ireland during the late 1960s and early 1970s...
was a front for the IRA
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...
and Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
and that its activities would lead to the persecution of Protestants. As a result he got deeply involved in paramilitarism, Orangeism
Orange Institution
The Orange Institution is a Protestant fraternal organisation based mainly in Northern Ireland and Scotland, though it has lodges throughout the Commonwealth and United States. The Institution was founded in 1796 near the village of Loughgall in County Armagh, Ireland...
and Unionism. At that time one of the organisations Garland supported was Tara
Tara (Northern Ireland)
Tara was a loyalist movement in Northern Ireland that espoused a brand of evangelical Protestantism.The group was first formed in 1966 by William McGrath from an independent Orange lodge that he controlled. It was intended as an outlet for virulent anti-Catholicism...
, a movement, led by William McGrath
William McGrath (loyalist)
William McGrath was a loyalist from Northern Ireland who founded the far-right organisation Tara in the 1960s, having also been prominent in the Orange Order until his expulsion due to his paedophilia...
, which espoused extreme anti-Catholic views. In the late 60s, he worked closely with the UVF in an attempt the strengthen links between the two groups. Garland later became a prominent opponent of McGrath and helped expose his involvement in the Kincora Boys' Home scandal.
Some years later, Garland had grave doubts about the direction in which the Orange Order and the Ulster Unionist Party
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
(UUP) were going and he left both organisations. According to Garland, "...there was a lot of twisting of the rules, and also I heard stories about people within our organisation attacking Catholics and I felt that this wasn't right, this was not the war, you know, to protect ourselves - this was actually an aggressive war."
Garland subsequently returned to the UUP, aiming to support a non-sectarian unionism. However he is a vocal opponent of closer links between the UUP and the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
, and was in October 2009 described as one of "four older men who no longer play an active role in the party."
He inherited his family's cleaning-products business, and is now a journalist and writer for the Irish News. He is also the author of several books including Gusty Spence
Gusty Spence
Augustus Andrew "Gusty" Spence was a leader of the Ulster Volunteer Force and a leading loyalist politician. One of the first UVF members to be convicted of murder, Spence was a senior figure in the organisation for over a decade but later renounced violence and joined the Progressive Unionist...
and The Ulster Volunteer Force: Negotiating history.