While the first women only officially joined the Army as non-combatants in 1980, their involvement in the Defence Forces goes back to the foundation of the State, when Brigid Lyons Thornton played a role in establishing the Army Medical Corps.

The number of women entering the Defence Forces is growing considerably and is something the military wants to encourage.

An emotional wreath-laying ceremony was held at the Soviet War Memorial in London today as the loss of 27 million soldiers and civilians from the former USSR in the Second World War was commemorated.