1st June 1920
The UVF revived
The continuing Irish Republican Army (IRA) campaign in the War of Independence was beginning to have a serious impact in the north. The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) was seriously over-stretched and had to abandon many of its barracks in rural areas. This increased the vulnerability felt by loyalists in rural Ulster, they believed they were unprotected from IRA attacks.
The Ulster Unionist Council decided to revive the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and groups were formed in the border areas of Donegal, Tyrone and Fermanagh to protect the local Protestant population.
Army commanders began to work more closely with the UVF, sidelining the RIC who were considered, with their high percentage of Catholic officers, to be no longer trustworthy.
