[1] In the 1960s, Garland became convinced that the Northern Ireland civil rights movement was a front for the IRA and Roman Catholic Church and that its activities would lead to the persecution of Protestants.
[2] At that time one of the organisations Garland supported was Tara, a movement, led by William McGrath, which espoused extreme anti-Catholic views.
[3] Garland later became a prominent opponent of McGrath and helped expose his involvement in the Kincora Boys' Home scandal.
[4] 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.
He is also the author of several books including Gusty Spence and The Ulster Volunteer Force: Negotiating history.