;[4] in September 1972 at a Vanguard rally in Woodvale Park "rows" of uniformed OV members stood beside the speakers' platform as the former junior Minister of Home Affairs John Taylor gave a speech.

However, the Reverend Martin Smyth was not prepared to fully associate the Orange Order with a paramilitary group and so the OV did not receive its official public endorsement.

The OV also took part: Belfast city centre was sealed off as several thousand "Orange Volunteers" paraded in company ranks, accompanied by bands.

[2] British Army searches of Orange Halls in Belfast in June 1974 uncovered three arms dumps in a 24-hour period, including explosive training aids, bomb-making equipment, and mortar parts.

[14] In April 1973 their name was attached, along with those of the UVF, the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and Red Hand Commando (RHC), to a series of posters that appeared in loyalist areas of West Belfast threatening violence to racketeers, particularly those claiming to be paramilitaries.

[16] In 1972 the Belfast Command of the OV claimed British government plans to introduce proportional representation for local council elections in Northern Ireland were "a further step in the downward path of appeasement, designed to placate a rebellious minority.

[2] Around this time it experienced a rush of members and grew in strength to as many as 3,000 men, allowing it to play a leading role in the roadblocks and intimidation that accompanied the strike.

The UDA and UVF had hoped to exclude politicians from the conduct of the strike as much as possible but ultimately acquiesced and allowed both Craig and Ian Paisley to play prominent public roles in the stoppage.

[19] In February 1976 the Orange Volunteers claimed Hugh Woodside, a Protestant man shot dead by the British Army during an altercation on the Shankill Road, as a member of the organisation.

[3] In May 1987 wreaths from the Orange Volunteers and other Loyalist paramilitary organisations were displayed outside the Belfast home of William Marchant, a senior member of the UVF shot dead by the IRA.