TARA
TARA was a loyalist group founded by William McGrath in 1966.[1]
According to Roy Garland,Tara emerged in November 1966, when McGrath took over as chairman of a ginger group previously called 'the cell'.[2]
In 1969, McGrath told Garland that a number of leading unionists had agreed to meet at his home to discuss loyalist unity, but this was apparently cancelled because of the refusal of Norman Porter to attend. According to Garland, a number of senior unionists, including James Molyneaux did subsequently meet McGrath at his home.[3]
At a meeting in the summer of 1969, it was decided that Tara should purchase a printer to produce its own literature. Along with Ian Paisley's church secretary, Garland financed the purchase in McGrath's name. The printer was later used in August 1971 to print a call for the formation of platoons in loyalist areas.[4]
In the early hours of 14 August 1969, McGrath, Paisley, Garland and a man called Black from Armagh met the Northern Ireland Prime Minister James Chichester-Clark to call for the formation of a "people's militia".[5]
The call for a people's militia arose out of a meeting largely involving members of Paisley's Ulster Constitution Defence Committee at his offices at Shaftesbury Square.[6]
