Royal Irish have a weekend of ‘coming home’

This evening, my home town of Ballymena will see a homecoming parade for the soldiers of the Royal Irish Regiment exercising their right to march through the town with

flags flying, bands playing and bayonets fixed

as the Regiment was given the Freedom of the Borough of Ballymena back in the early 1990s, and I remember my mother having to drive us down early for a service in St Patrick’s Parish Church as my brothers and I were then in the choir – we nearly didn’t make it through before the town was sealed off.

It is important to be having this parade in the “city of the seven towers” as until the summer of 2008, St Patrick‘s Barracks was the Regimental Headquarters and Depot of the Royal Irish Regiment, and before that of the Royal Irish Rangers.

Having grown up in Ballymena, we all knew of St Patrick’s Barracks and many of us were proud that our hometown was also the

home of the Royal Irish

Formed in 1992, as an amalgamation of the Ulster Defence Regiment and the Royal Irish Rangers,

The Royal Irish Regiment is the last remaining Irish infantry regiment of the line. The 1st Battalion is based in Tern Hill, Shropshire and forms part of 16 Air Assault Brigade. The 2nd Battalion is a Territorial Army battalion and its headquarters is in Portadown, Northern Ireland with company locations across the province. 1 Royal Irish Battlegroup returned in October 2008 from their second tour in Helmand Province, Afghanistan – and again deployed to Helmand Province in 2010.

from R Irish website

It is from this tour of Helmand Province that the Royal Irish have returned recently.

Whatever we may think or say or do about the presence of British troops in Afghanistan, I believe that it is important for us to recognise the bravery of the men and women of the Forces of the Crown who serve Queen and Country wherever they are asked to serve.

Some politicians and community leaders are concerned that the Ministry of Defence turned down the opportunity for a homecoming parade in Belfast city centre. However, in my view, it seems much more sensible for the homecoming parades to be where there is a real connexion to the Regiment. Ballymena was the ‘home’ of the Royal Irish for many, many years. The town has a different feel about it without St Patrick’s Barracks being staffed.

The last time that there was a parade in Belfast there was a major security operation to police it. Given the security situation in which Northern Ireland finds itself as well as operational reasons given by the MoD, I have no complaints about their being a parade in Ballymena this evening, another in the city of Lisburn following conferment of the Freedom of the City by the city council tomorrow, and a thanksgiving service in St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast on Sunday. St Anne’s has the chapel of the Royal Irish Regiment in the north transept of the building. It is highly appropriate for the thanksgiving service to be there – indeed it is the Regiment coming home again this time to their spiritual home.

Let’s have a listen to the Regimental Quick March, Killaloe, which I am sure will be heard this weekend with rousing shouts during it.