§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many patrols were carried out by each battalion stationed in Northern Ireland in the last month for which figures are available, broken down by police district and approximate district council constituencies.[101868]
217W
§ Mr. SpellarThe number of patrols that were carried out by each battalion stationed in Northern Ireland in November 1999, broken down by each police district and
Battalion Police division Approximate district council boundaries Number of patrols 3 Infantry Brigade Armagh Roulement Battalion H Armagh, Newry and Mourne 247 East Tyrone Roulement Battalion K Cookstown, Dungannon 160 Ballykinler Battalion G Down, Ards, Newry and Mourne 12 3rd Battalion, The Royal Irish Regiment J Craigavon, Lisburn, Banbridge 185 8th Battalion, The Royal Irish Regiment H Armagh 228 8 Infantry Brigade Ballykelly Battalion N Limavady, Strabane 12 Londonderry Battalion N Londonderry, Strabane 0 Omagh Battalion L Omagh, Dungannon, Fermanagh 104 4th Battalion, The Royal Irish Regiment L Fermanagh 305 5th Royal Irish Regiment Magherafelt, Limavady, Coleraine, Moyle, Larne, Antrim, O Ballymena, Ballymoney 11 39 Infantry Brigade Belfast Roulement Battalion B Belfast 0 Holywood Battalion D North Down, Carrickfergus, Newtownabbey 0 7th Royal Irish Regiment A and E Belfast, North Down, Castlereagh 0 9th Royal Irish Regiment D and B Lisburn, Antrim 0 A patrol is defined as any foot or mobile patrol in support of the RUC regardless of size or duration. Patrols conducted by the Army for local security around bases are not included.
Some battalions operate in more than one Police Division. Police Divisions are not coterminous with District Council boundaries. These delineations are therefore only approximate and in some cases a Council area may be covered by more than one Battalion, e.g. Lisburn.
§ 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. SpellarThe information requested is set out in the table.
Strength 1998 Strength 1999 Army (General Service) 110,873 210,491 Royal Air Force 1,152 1,150 Royal Navy 321 182
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Unit Strength Length of Tour The 1st Battalion the Scots Guards 604 2 years—until April 2000 The 1st Battalion the Royal Welsh Fusiliers 608 2 years—until August 2000 The 1st Battalion the Royal Anglian Regiment 595 2 years—until May 2001 The 1stBattalion the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment 639 2 years—until December 2001 The 1st Battalion The Royal Green Jackets 590 2 years—until March 2001 The 1st Battalion the Coldstream Guards 531 6 months—until March 2000 The 1st Battalion the Grenadier Guards 500 6 months—until December 1999 The 1st Battalion the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire 443 6 months—until May 2000 approximate district council constituencies are set out in the table:
Strength 1998 Strength 1999 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 16,934 16,200 1Includes the Province Reserve Battalion and the Urban Reinforcement Battalion which are fully committed to Northern Ireland although only one company of each was deployed to the Province as at 30 September 1998. Also includes the Rural Reinforcement Battalion which was committed but not deployed at that time. 2Includes the three Northern Ireland Reinforcement Battalions (Urban, Rural and Drumadd) which are fully committed to Northern Ireland but as of 17 November 1998 were all rear-based on the Mainland. It also includes the Province Reserve Battalion which is also fully committed to the Province but had only one company in Northern Ireland as at 30 September 1999.
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the Army regiments currently deployed in Northern Ireland, indicating(a) the numbers attached to each and (b) the estimated duration of their tour of duty; and if he will make a statement on planned deployment during the next 12 months. [101867]
§ Mr. SpellarThe British Army General Service Infantry Battalions currently deployed in Northern Ireland are listed in the table, along with their strength and tour length:
219WApart from one company of The 1st Battalion The King's Regiment, the following are fully committed to
Unit Strength Length of Tour The 1st Battalion the King's Regiment 579 2 years—until April 2001 12 Regiment Royal Artillery 335 6 months—until April 2000 The 2nd Battalion The Light Infantry 335 6 months—until December 1999 7 Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery 425 6 months—until January 2000 Note:
Figures as at 3 December 1999
In addition there are six Home Service Battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment, totalling 4,377 soldiers, comprising both full-time and part-time members, which are wholly committed to service to Northern Ireland, but not shown in the above table.
Details of future deployments to the Province are being withheld under exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
Number of patrols Battalion Accompanied by RUC Unaccompanied by RUC 3rd Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment 61 124 4th Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment 305 0 5th Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment 11 0 7th Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment 0 0 8th Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment 73 155 9th Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment 0 0 A patrol is defined as any foot or mobile patrol in support of the RUC regardless of size of duration. Patrols conducted by the Army for local security around bases are not included.