The new body decided to call itself "Ulster Protestant Action", and the first year of its existence was taken up with the discussion of vigilante patrols, street barricades and drawing up lists of IRA suspects in Belfast and rural areas.
[2] The initial executive of the UPA consisted of John McQuade, Billy Spence, Charles McCullough, Richard Fenton, Frank Millar, Sammy Verner, Herbert Ditty, Bob Newman and Noel Doherty, with Paisley as an ex officio member.
[4] Although initially opposed to professional politicians, specifically banning them from membership of the group, the UPA stood the former Belfast City Councillor and superintendent of an independent gospel mission, Albert Duff, against Brian Maginess in Iveagh at the 1958 Northern Ireland general election.
They opposed efforts by O'Neill to deliver civil rights to the Catholic minority in Northern Ireland, especially the proposed abolition of gerrymandering of local electoral areas for the election of urban and county councils.
In 1964, Paisley's demand that the Royal Ulster Constabulary remove an Irish Tricolour from Sinn Féin's Belfast offices led to two days of rioting after this was followed through.