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ROYAL IRISH REGIMENT The Royal Irish Regiment was formed in 1684 by the Earl Of Granard from independent Companies in Ireland . In 1695 , the regiment became known as the '''Royal Regiment of Ireland''' before being ranked as the 18th Regiment of Foot. In 1881 it became the Royal Irish Regiment, and served as the county regiment of Tipperary , Wexford and Kilkenny . The regiment was one of those disbanded following the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922 . ROYAL IRISH REGIMENT (27TH (INNISKILLING), 83RD AND 87TH AND ULSTER DEFENCE REGIMENT) The Royal Irish Regiment (27th (Inniskilling) 83rd and 87th and Ulster Defence Regiment), commonly just called the '''Royal Irish Regiment''' ('''R IRISH'''), is an Infantry unit of the British Army and is the only remaining Irish regiment of the line. It was formed in 1992 under the Options For Change proposals through the amalgamation of the Royal Irish Rangers and the Ulster Defence Regiment , with most of its membership coming from the latter. Its Regimental HQ is in St Patrick's Barracks, Ballymena . This produced a regiment with a total of eleven battalions:
The Home Service battalions fulfilled the role formerly occupied by the Ulster Defence Regiment, that is, conducting counter-terrorism operations in Northern Ireland , while the 1st and 2nd Battalions served worldwide as general service battalions. Due to its size, the regiment was removed from the King's Division and existed outside the divisions of infantry. In 1993 , one of the regular battalions was disbanded, while the 3rd and 6th Battalions merged, as did the 4th and 5th battalions of the Royal Irish Rangers to form 4th/5th Battalion. In 2001, the number of home service battalions was reduced to three:
Today, the operational command of the Royal Irish Regiment encompasses:
As a consequence, it remains the largest infantry regiment in the British Army. Its members (in the 1st Battalion and Royal Irish Rangers only) are still known as 'Rangers'. In 2004 , a major restructuring of the infantry was announced, with all of the remaining single battalion infantry regiments being amalgamated together. Under normal circumstances, this may have put the Royal Irish Regiment at risk. However, because of its unique status in providing the home defence for Northern Ireland, plus the fact that it is the only remaining Irish infantry regiment, it was decided to leave the Royal Irish Regiment as it was, with no changes, with perhaps the exception of bringing the Territorial Army battalion more fully within the regiment's structure (i.e. renaming it as 5th Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment). This allows a 'line infantry footprint' to remain in Northern Ireland. Recent Deployments The 1st Battalion until recently formed part of 16 Air Assault Brigade . This Brigade is one of two British light brigades, designed to be capable of rapidly deploying to trouble spots around the world. As such, the battalion has seen more than its fair share of operational tours recently. In 2000 in Sierra Leone, while deployed to train government troops, eleven Royal Irish soldiers and their local army liaison officer, were kidnapped by the West Side Boys insurgents. Five hostages were later released and the remaining six were freed by the SAS, with the West Side Boys suffering severe casualties in the action. The Royal Irish also deployed with its brigade to Iraq at the beginning of Op TELIC in March 2003, where they carried out operations in the south of the country. The battalion suffered some casualties, and its Commanding Officer , after being accused and acquitted of war crimes, was honoured with an OBE for distinguished service. After a period of mountain warfare training in Scotland, the battalion has returned to Iraq for a second tour. The Future The IRA announced an end to its campaign of violence in the summer of 2005. In response the UK government announced military cuts which included the R IRISH. Having played a crucial role in creating the environment for normalisation the Home Service battalions of the Regiment were told they would be disbanded. In March of 2006, a redundancy package was announced for these battalions, which are to be disbanded between March 2007 and 31 July 2007. On 1 Aug 2007 Op BANNER , the military support to the civilian police in Northern Ireland ends. Mr Adam Ingram, Armed Forces Minister said "We will never forget that over 200 Royal Irish home service/UDR personnel have made the ultimate sacrifice while serving in Northern Ireland," "I know that the day of disbandment will be a sad one for the battalion and for each and every member of the home service, but we should take the opportunity and look at how far we have come. Regimental Colonel Mark Campbell said "The end of Operation Banner (the military operation in support of the Police Service of Northern Ireland) reflects the success of the home service whose men and women have played a significant role in bringing Northern Ireland to the far more peaceful circumstances it enjoys today." The 1st Battalion, other than accepting transfers of willing Home Service soldiers into its ORBAT , will be unaffected by these disbandments. http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0522-04.htm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3198047.stm http://www.guardian.co.uk/military/story/0,11816,1490057,00.html |
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