The planned deployment of around 140 crack troops on a major EU exercise has been called off as the Government failed to sign a special agreement to indemnify soldiers on duty abroad.

One of the largest military convoys ever seen in this country travelled along Cork roads yesterday as part of an exercise which will shortly see Irish troops become part of an elite EU rapid reaction force.

The Irish Army showed off its hi-tech fighting capability for the first time yesterday, using a battery of new equipment which gives it live battlefield views.