Royal Irish Regiment disbanded in the North

The Royal Irish Regiment is to be axed in Northern Ireland as part of a major plan to cut troop numbers there, it emerged tonight.

Military authorities plan to scrap all three Home Service battalions, comprising of nearly 3,000 soldiers under a new deal to break the deadlock in the peace process.

British army chiefs have already drawn up a redundancy packages and held talks with trade union representatives to discuss the future of civilian staff affected by the move.

An internal draft document circulated among senior staff by the GOC in Northern Ireland, Lieutenant General Truesdale, has set out the impact of the demilitarisation programme code-named operation Banner.

The document said: “What is already clear is that the end of Operation Banner will have an effect right across the whole army on such issues as force levels.

“The end of Operation Banner will inevitably mean the disbandment of the Home Service element of the Royal Irish Regiment.”