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Briefing: Four decades on, Northern Ireland is to become an ordinary military garrison 'comparable with Cornwall'
Until very recently, there were more troops stationed in the province than in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. Now most have been redeployed, but not all...
By Katy Guest
Published: 29 July 2007
What's happening in Northern Ireland?
The British Army will cease military operations there after 38 years, 763 service deaths and 6,100 injuries. Operation Banner, the armed forces' longest-running deployment, began in 1969. At its peak before the IRA ceasefire in 1994 there were 19,000 service men and women in the province. Now the number is down to 5,000. This week they will cease routine military support of the police and change their role to become like any other garrison in Britain, ready for deployment worldwide.
In a recent report, General Sir Mike Jackson, former Chief of the General Staff, called it "one of the most important campaigns ever fought by the British Army and its fellow services... one of the very few waged on British soil; and one of the very few ever brought to a successful conclusion by the armed forces of a developed nation against an irregular force."
What were they doing there?
According to the British Army, the role of its troops in Northern Ireland has been to support the Police Service of Northern Ireland in three ways: protecting the police as they carry out their duties; providing additional support such as border posts, vehicles and equipment; lending specialist support such as bomb disposal and divers. However, republican critics have accused the Army of colluding with loyalist forces. In 1992, Brian Nelson, a British agent within the Ulster Defence Association, claimed that the Army had cooperated with some of his activities, which included murder and importing arms. In January, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Hain, said he was "convinced that at least one prosecution will arise out of" a report by the police ombudsman about such collusions.
How quickly have they been leaving?
In 1969, at the start of the troubles, there were only 2,000 troops in Northern Ireland – but that figure had risen to 19,000 by 1994. Forces began to be reduced during the peace process until they reached 10,500 in 2005. Now there will be less than half as many. All the hilltop watchtowers in south Armagh have been pulled down; the Bessbrook Army base has closed. Military installations have been removed. The Royal Irish Regiment has been disbanded and many of its soldiers made redundant. The number of sites where troops are based has been cut to 14. Some experts have predicted that the garrison could eventually fall to as few as 3,500.
Why is it happening now?
On 1 August 2005, just days after the IRA claimed to have decommissioned most of its weaponry, it was announced that British forces would pull out all but 5,000 of its troops by 1 August 2007. These would be left as a "residual" force, to support the police. While the official reason is that the political situation is strong enough to support the pullout, some suggest other, more pressing reasons. More than 12,000 soldiers are currently on missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, and a leaked memo from Britain's most senior soldier, General Sir Richard Dannatt, suggested that the Army is overstretched. The memo said that the Army has "almost no capability to react to the unexpected". Only one battalion of 500 troops was reported to be available for emergency use and Sir Richard said it was "critical" that manning was improved.
Of 100,000 troops, about 7,000 are serving in Afghanistan and 5,500 in Iraq. The biggest overseas deployment, of about 20,000 troops, is in Germany. The Army says that the situation is "manageable", but Lt-Gen Nicolas Parker, the senior commanding officer in Northern Ireland, admits that, "The armed forces, it's fair to say, are extremely busy now; there are lots of people doing extra jobs. So it has been enormously helpful to redirect serving men and women from here."
Why has it taken so long?
The Good Friday agreement was signed in 1998, bringing a commitment to peace by political means, but the establishment of a Northern Ireland Assembly proved hard to sustain. The IRA agreed to lay down its arms, followed by loyalist paramilitaries, but there were several times when it looked as though violence would erupt again.
The Government had to balance this threat against the hope that reducing troop numbers slowly as part of a process of "normalisation" would inspire confidence in the peace talks. Then came the extraordinary scenes of May, when the assembly was restored with the previously unpersuadable Unionist Dr Ian Paisley as First Minister, and former IRA member Martin McGuinness as his deputy.
What happens next?
Lt-Gen Nicolas Parker is optimistic. He expects the reduction of troops to continue until the military presence is comparable with that in "Glasgow, Yorkshire or Cornwall". In five years' time, he imagines that remaining soldiers "should be going into Tesco to get their shopping on the way home from their barracks in their uniform and nobody would bat an eyelid. The aim is to move from being part of the security forces... to becoming another part of the Northern Ireland community."
Until very recently, there were more troops stationed in the province than in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. Now most have been redeployed, but not all...
By Katy Guest
Published: 29 July 2007
What's happening in Northern Ireland?
The British Army will cease military operations there after 38 years, 763 service deaths and 6,100 injuries. Operation Banner, the armed forces' longest-running deployment, began in 1969. At its peak before the IRA ceasefire in 1994 there were 19,000 service men and women in the province. Now the number is down to 5,000. This week they will cease routine military support of the police and change their role to become like any other garrison in Britain, ready for deployment worldwide.
In a recent report, General Sir Mike Jackson, former Chief of the General Staff, called it "one of the most important campaigns ever fought by the British Army and its fellow services... one of the very few waged on British soil; and one of the very few ever brought to a successful conclusion by the armed forces of a developed nation against an irregular force."
What were they doing there?
According to the British Army, the role of its troops in Northern Ireland has been to support the Police Service of Northern Ireland in three ways: protecting the police as they carry out their duties; providing additional support such as border posts, vehicles and equipment; lending specialist support such as bomb disposal and divers. However, republican critics have accused the Army of colluding with loyalist forces. In 1992, Brian Nelson, a British agent within the Ulster Defence Association, claimed that the Army had cooperated with some of his activities, which included murder and importing arms. In January, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Hain, said he was "convinced that at least one prosecution will arise out of" a report by the police ombudsman about such collusions.
How quickly have they been leaving?
In 1969, at the start of the troubles, there were only 2,000 troops in Northern Ireland – but that figure had risen to 19,000 by 1994. Forces began to be reduced during the peace process until they reached 10,500 in 2005. Now there will be less than half as many. All the hilltop watchtowers in south Armagh have been pulled down; the Bessbrook Army base has closed. Military installations have been removed. The Royal Irish Regiment has been disbanded and many of its soldiers made redundant. The number of sites where troops are based has been cut to 14. Some experts have predicted that the garrison could eventually fall to as few as 3,500.
Why is it happening now?
On 1 August 2005, just days after the IRA claimed to have decommissioned most of its weaponry, it was announced that British forces would pull out all but 5,000 of its troops by 1 August 2007. These would be left as a "residual" force, to support the police. While the official reason is that the political situation is strong enough to support the pullout, some suggest other, more pressing reasons. More than 12,000 soldiers are currently on missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, and a leaked memo from Britain's most senior soldier, General Sir Richard Dannatt, suggested that the Army is overstretched. The memo said that the Army has "almost no capability to react to the unexpected". Only one battalion of 500 troops was reported to be available for emergency use and Sir Richard said it was "critical" that manning was improved.
Of 100,000 troops, about 7,000 are serving in Afghanistan and 5,500 in Iraq. The biggest overseas deployment, of about 20,000 troops, is in Germany. The Army says that the situation is "manageable", but Lt-Gen Nicolas Parker, the senior commanding officer in Northern Ireland, admits that, "The armed forces, it's fair to say, are extremely busy now; there are lots of people doing extra jobs. So it has been enormously helpful to redirect serving men and women from here."
Why has it taken so long?
The Good Friday agreement was signed in 1998, bringing a commitment to peace by political means, but the establishment of a Northern Ireland Assembly proved hard to sustain. The IRA agreed to lay down its arms, followed by loyalist paramilitaries, but there were several times when it looked as though violence would erupt again.
The Government had to balance this threat against the hope that reducing troop numbers slowly as part of a process of "normalisation" would inspire confidence in the peace talks. Then came the extraordinary scenes of May, when the assembly was restored with the previously unpersuadable Unionist Dr Ian Paisley as First Minister, and former IRA member Martin McGuinness as his deputy.
What happens next?
Lt-Gen Nicolas Parker is optimistic. He expects the reduction of troops to continue until the military presence is comparable with that in "Glasgow, Yorkshire or Cornwall". In five years' time, he imagines that remaining soldiers "should be going into Tesco to get their shopping on the way home from their barracks in their uniform and nobody would bat an eyelid. The aim is to move from being part of the security forces... to becoming another part of the Northern Ireland community."
