Orange Volunteers

The Orange Volunteers (OV2) were a small Ulster loyalist Protestant group created in 1998. OV2 was not associated with the group labeled the 1970's 'Orange Volunteer' group, which shared the same name. The group formed after the 1998 Belfast Agreement and opposed the mass calls for Loyalist ceasefires. Since then, they engaged in multiple acts of violence and sectarian harassment, especially through the early 2000s. Their most prominent attack involved the simultaneous attack on 11 Catholic churches in Northern Ireland. The group's last known attack occurred in 2009; since then, the group has become largely inactive. Members of the Ulster Volunteer Force, Loyalist Volunteer Force & UDA have used the OV name as a cover organization.