§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the overall strength in September(a) 1998 and (b) 1999 was of military forces in Northern Ireland, broken down into the numbers attached to the (i) RAF, (ii) Royal Navy (iii) RIR, (iv) RIR part-time and (v) others. [101866]
§ Mr. SpellarPursuant to the reply I gave on 15 December 1999,Official Report, columns 217–18W, it may be helpful to make it clear that, excluding those forces referred to in the footnotes as being based outside Northern Ireland, the strength figures for military forces deployed to the Province are as follows:
Strength 1998 Strength 1999 Army (General Service) 9,557 8,843 Royal Air Force 1,152 1,150 Royal Navy 321 182 The Royal Irish Regiment (Home Service Full-time) 2,627 2,536 The Royal Irish Regiment (Home Service Part-time) 1,961 1,841 Total 15,618 14,552