Reid Warned Over RIR Disbandment

The disbandment of the RIR home battalions would leave the people of Northern Ireland at the mercy of terrorists and do untold damage to Ulster’s economy, the DUP warned Defence Secretary John Reid yesterday. A delegation, including party leader Ian Paisley, met Dr Reid in London and presented him with a seven-page paper, detailing the DUP’s unambiguous opposition to the Government’s decision.

The paper, which was seen exclusively by the News Letter last night, called for generous redundancy packages for soldiers and civilian staff and official recognition for the service of RIR servicemen and women. A tough-talking Mr Paisley claimed the ‘political decision’ to disband the home battalions was merely a concession to the IRA, which he stressed has yet to carry out a fresh decommissioning act since its supposedly ground-breaking statement in July.

‘This decision is not only premature, it will potentially leave the people of Northern Ireland, for the first time, without a locally recruited force to support the police in the event of continuing terrorist activity or civil unrest,’ he said. ‘This is very dangerous and anyone who knows the history of Northern Ireland will regard such a decision as at best ill-advised’.

The delegation, which included MPs Jeffrey Donaldson, William McCrea, Gregory Campbell and party chairman Maurice Morrow, claimed the compulsory redundancy of thousands of soldiers and civilian staff would cost the Ulster economy more than £20 million every year.

With acknowledgements to The Newsletter