North troop levels lowest in 30 years

Troop levels in the North are about to drop to their lowest level in 30 years, it was confirmed today.

The Royal Welch Fusiliers, based in Bessbrook on the south Armagh border, are starting to pull out and will be gone before the end of the week.

Their departure will see troop levels in the North fall below 9,000, lower than at any time since the very beginning of the 1970s.

It also means that for the first time since the Troubles began there won’t be a roulement battalion – troops on a six-month tour of duty unaccompanied by wives or families – in the North.

It is what security chiefs consider to be a further sign of returning normality as the terrorist threat diminishes.

At one time there were six roulement battalions serving in the North, normally in the key hot spots.

They were reduced to four in 2000 and have been phasing out gradually since.

There has been such a battalion at Bessbrook Mill since 1980, providing a security-force presence at military sites in the border region.

One of their key tasks has been the manning of hilltop border observation posts. Three of what republicans call ‘spy posts’ have been demolished but five remain.

When the Royal Welch Fusiliers finish pulling out later this week it will not mean the remaining posts will close.

A British ministry of defence spokesman said today that soldiers from the first battalion, the Cheshire Regiment, based in Ballykinlar, Co Derry, would transfer to Bessbrook to maintain a presence and man the observation posts.