RIR 'must be retained in case Dublin invades North'

An independent unionist councillor in Co Antrim has said the British army's Royal Irish Regiment must be retained in case the Irish Army invades the North.

Willie Wright, a councillor in Ballymena, made his comments at a meeting of the town's borough council last night.

Mr Wright said any plan by the British government to disband the RIR as part of its demilitarisation commitments under the Good Friday Agreement would be foolish, as it could leave Ballymena vulnerable to an attack from Dublin.

Republicans could manufacture a situation, he said, to plunge the North into civil war and bring Irish troops across the border.