Army Confirms 'No RIR Belfast Parade'

The Royal Irish Regiment (RIR) will mark their return from Afghanistan with three parades in Northern Ireland - but is failing to take-up an invitation from Belfast City Council to march in the city's streets.

A spokesman for Belfast City Council has so far refused to comment on behalf of the Mayor, Councillor Pat Convery, who issued the invitation, instead referring queries to those proposing the original idea - the DUP - whose suggestion was later agreed and passed by the Council.

A Defence Press Office spokesman in Army HQ, Lisburn, said there will be a special service of thanksgiving and remembrance later this month while the RIR will host post operational presentations in the capital.

They will also be in the northwest in June detailing the part the RIR played in contributing to developments within Afghanistan.

The 1st Battalion RIR has already paraded near their home base at Ternhill in Shropshire.

There, the Council of Market Drayton has voted to grant the regiment the Freedom of the Borough in a ceremony next year.

However, while there are to be several other events in NI - there is to be no repeat of a very well attended RIR parade on the streets of Belfast - despite last ditch appeals to the Prime Minister and Defence Secretary in Westminster for a re-think.

The last such event was marked by a large security operation as republican and loyalist demonstrators and supporters squared-up to each other on the fringes of the otherwise highly popular event.

The outgoing Stormont First Minister, Peter Robinson, was among the many voices who appealed for a U-turn after the MoD said they would not be staging a second parade in the NI capital.

The first parade will now take place on the evening of Friday 20 May when the RIR will exercise the Freedom of the Borough granted by Ballymena Borough Council.

On the afternoon of Saturday 21 May, Lisburn City Council is to meet in special session to confer the Freedom of the City on the RIR and the regiment will then 'exercise that Freedom' in a parade through the city.

On Sunday 22 May the RIR will gather at St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast for a thanksgiving and remembrance.

Then, the following weekend RIR soldiers from the 2nd Battalion TA who served alongside their regular colleagues in Afghanistan will exercise the Freedom of Castlereagh in a parade before moving to Hillsborough Castle for a ceremony with their families and friends in order to receive their operational medals.

In June, the RIR is also hosting a series of lectures both in Belfast and the northwest to describe their contribution to developments within Afghanistan to a range of audiences.

While Belfast may well feel snubbed, the Lisburn City Mayor, Alderman Paul Porter, said the parade there will be an honour after the Council bestows the Freedom of the City on the Royal Irish Regiment.

"The City of Lisburn has a long and rich history with all the Armed Forces and is home to its headquarters in Northern Ireland.

"I am delighted that we can celebrate this special bond and acknowledge the unfaltering bravery of the service men of the Royal Irish Regiment and pay special tribute to those soldiers who have lost their lives in the line of duty," he aid.

"This Council recognises the invaluable and distinguished service to our Nation by the Royal Irish Regiment, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan, and is delighted to confer its highest honour, the Freedom of the City of Lisburn."

Equally enthusiastic is the Ballymena Mayor Councillor Maurice Mills, who said it is a great privilege.

"It is a great privilege and honour for Ballymena to have the Royal Irish Regiment exercise their Freedom of the Borough by holding a parade to mark the return of the Royal Irish Soldiers from Afghanistan.

"I am extremely delighted that this is the second time during my terms of office as Mayor, that on behalf of the Borough, I am able to welcome the troops.

"The 20th May for us is another very important occasion to write another piece of history for the Borough in renewing our acquaintances with the Royal Irish Regiment, Ballymena having been a garrison town until recently," he said.

"I think it is tremendous, and although it should prove to be an exciting occasion, yet it will be a solemn one, as we remember three soldiers from the Regiment who lost their lives during this last tour of duty.

"I know that the people of Ballymena will respond to this event as they did in such a remarkable way on the last occasion on 31st October 2008."

The Mayor of Castlereagh, Councillor Vivienne McCoy said: "I am both proud and delighted to welcome the Royal Irish Regiment back to Castlereagh following their tour of duty in Afghanistan and to grant them their right to march as Freemen of the Borough, an honour which was conveyed upon the Regiment in 1995."

Remembrance

The RIR lost three soldiers during their deployment in the Nad-e’Ali district of Helmand Province - Ranger Aaron McCormick from Macosquin and Lance Corporal Stephen McKee from Banbridge were killed in action and Ranger David Dalzell from Bangor who was killed in an operational accident.

On operation, the RIR Battlegroup mounted a series of offensive operations over six months throughout Nad-e’Ali to defeat the insurgency in the dense Canal Zone enabling the Afghan Government to deliver stabilisation and governance for their people.

See: RIR Afghanistan Parade Opposed

See: Army Welcome Parade 'May Still Take Place'

(BMcC/GK)