DUP: High human cost of disbanding battalions

Plans to disband three Northern Ireland-based battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment in a major shake up of security could cost the North’s economy £60m (€88m) every year, it was claimed today.

Democratic Unionist Assembly Member Arlene Foster said while there had been a focus on the implications of the move for the safety and security of communities, it was also becoming clear there would would be a high human cost.

The Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA said: “A significant number of the soldiers within the RIR are drawn from areas in the west of the province where there are already few enough job opportunities.

“Indeed, within the past months many of these same areas have been hit with job losses within the manufacturing sector.

“Businesses are already feeling the knock-on effect of previous job losses and this announcement has only served to heighten fears of a further knock-on effect.

“It is suggested that with the disbandment of the RIR Home Battalions there will be a loss of some £20m (€29.3m) per battalion to the economy each year.

“Looking at the economic implications of this decision it is obvious that the idea is ill-conceived and has certainly been made without giving any consideration to the widespread economic impact.”

Three thousand soldiers, some of them part-time, will be affected by the decision to axe the home service battalions by 2007 if the British government is able to implement radical demilitarisation moves envisaged in the wake of last month’s IRA declaration that it is ending its armed campaign.

Despite RIR Colonel Mark Campbell’s insistence that the regiment was not being thrown to the political wolves, unionists have reacted furiously to the plans.

Last week, British prime minister Tony Blair was warned by the DUP that its approach to talks to revive devolution in the North would be determined by how the British government treated the soldiers.

Ms Foster said today it was important to remember not only were soldiers losing their jobs but 2,000 civilian jobs were also disappearing.

“With this in mind surely the government must set about planning to attract replacement jobs for the individuals affected,” she argued.

“It is unacceptable for the government to rush some two thousand people on to the job market all at once and have no plans in place to deal with this situation.”