British army barracks in Co Down to close

The British army have confirmed plans to shut down another military base in Northern Ireland.

The barracks to close is at Rathfriland, Co Down.

Northern Ireland’s Chief Constable, Hugh Orde, made the announcement to close the base in consultation with the British army’s General Officer Commanding, following a security assessment.

The closure will not involve a reduction in troop levels deployed in the North as part-time Royal Irish Regiment soldiers at Rathfriland are moving to battalion headquarters in Drummad Barracks, Armagh.

But the shutdown, which is expected to take six months, has intensified unionist anger at what they regard as ongoing moves to slash troop levels and scale down military installations.

South Down MP Eddie McGrady described the closure as another step towards normalising Northern Ireland’s policing and security situation.

The SDLP man said: “The military presence in the centre of Rathfriland has been unnecessary for sometime and the decision to close the base is long overdue.

“It is my hope that republican and loyalist paramilitary activity will decrease to such an extent as to allow the completion of the normalisation process in the near future.”