Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Really?

Just hot off the press:
Sinn Fein west Belfast MLA Fra McCann said: "The British army is not our army."”

...just in case, you didn't know.

That pointless quote actually completes yet another slipshod Tele article...just for reference; there is no country registered at the United Nations rejoicing under the title of "The South", all soldiers (from either the ...North or South) parading in November will be Irishmen.

But apart from that, yes, good news:
Around 40 soldiers from the Republic serving in the British army will parade in uniform in Northern Ireland next month – for the first time in over 60 years.

The news comes as Belfast prepares to play host to a home-coming parade for members of the Royal Irish regiment, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force.

The parade – scheduled to take place in the city centre on November 2 – will be the first of its kind in Northern Ireland since World War II, when 14,000 men from the Republic were joining the ranks each year.

The procession is intended to celebrate the safe return of British servicemen and women from Afghanistan and Iraq.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is worth remembering that the number of individuals joining the British Army from RoI stands at one in six, just over 16% now, and is rising.
When I was attested I joined as Brit/Ire as opposed to Brit/Scot, Brit/Welsh or Brit/Eng.
When I recruited soldiers from the RoI they were also put in as Brit/Ire and none objected in any way.
The number of recruits from RoI will continue to rise. They are excellent soldiers and the republic is only taking in 102 (approx) recruits this year.
Fra McCann might not know which army is his but a great many Irishmen and women have no such confusion.

O'Neill said...

Thanks for that belfast greyhound.
I'm not quite sure McCann's comments was included anyway, it hardly contributed to the article or debate.