Northern Ireland (Army Personnel)

HC Deb 07 February 1989 vol 146 cc664-5W

59. Sir Michael McNair-Wilson

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will state the number of Army personnel serving in Northern Ireland and the comparable figure for 1979.

Mr. Archie Hamilton

The numbers of Army personnel (including UDR) serving in the security forces in Northern Ireland were as follows:

	Number
1 January 1989	16,007
1 January 1979	20,488

Comparable figures for the total number of service personnel serving in the security forces in the Province were 17,287 and 21,465 respectively.