Troop review event defended

A CONTROVERSIAL troop review to mark the 300th anniversary of one of the largest shows of British military strength in Ireland has been defended by the chief organiser of the event.

Nearly 100 Defence Forces personnel were reviewed by Defence Minister Michael Smith in the grounds of Kilkenny Castle last night.

The event was organised to commemorate the 1704 Bennetsbridge review, when 100,000 British soldiers, infantry and cavalry, marched past the Duke of Ormond and visiting dignitaries.

PDFORRA, the representative body for permanent defence personnel, criticised the use of the Kilkenny-based 3rd Battalion members, claiming some had leave withdrawn and it was a waste of resources.

Organiser Eamon Kiely, a former army commandant, refused to be drawn on PDFORRA’s criticism.

But he defended marking the anniversary of what he described as a hugely historical event that was attended, according to some accounts, by a fifth of the population of Ireland.

Mr Kiely said the Anglo-Irish Duke of Ormond, who at one time owned over one million acres of land, was among the more benevolent of landlords. The Duke, who was one of the highest ranking British military officers, eventually lost all his land and ended his days in exile after siding with the unsuccessful Jacobites against the House of Orange.