Brits go home

For decades walls in many areas of the North of Ireland saw the daubed graffiti of 'Brits go home'. This was a reference by the community to the unwanted presence of thousands of British Military personnel, who they believed brought British martial law and took away civil liberty and freedom.
As part of the agreement that has seen politics return to solve the problem of the North of Ireland's national divide, another milestone will be reached tomorrow when the last of the British soldiers are pulled out of South Armagh.
Bessbrook will be closed and the British Army gone, it was confirmed today. The withdrawal from Bessbrook will predate the official end of the role of the British army supporting the old Royal Ulster Constabulary (now replaced by the PSNI), on July 31.
The British army and Operation Banner was the longest single campaign in British military history, stretching back more than 35 years to the start of the 1970s. At one time more than 30,000 British troops were stationed in the North, effectively directed against the Irish community.
More so than anywhere else The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) was a formidable force in South Armagh and no British soldier, despite their vast numbers, was safe, PIRA held the area in an ongoing determined stalemate. British Military Personnel quickly realised that they could not enforce British law and rule upon the area as they had been tasked, as a consequence they had to fly in and out of the area, the foot patrol risks were too high. Bessbrook itself was the busiest heliport in Europe, the last flight took place at the weekend. Lance Bombardier Stephen Restorick was shot dead by a long-distance sniper while operating a South Armagh security checkpoint in 1997, He was the last of 763 British military personnel to lose their life in the North.
At one point, there were 104 British military bases in the North, there is now less than 20 and that will reduce further in the coming weeks.
The new regional development minister in the new power-sharing Stormont government said: “This is obviously welcome news for the community of South Armagh who have had to live under British military occupation for the past 30 years. Sinn Féin made the issue of demilitarising communities like South Armagh a central part of the political negotiations. We are happy we have now arrived at this point.” Said Sinn Féin MP for Newry & Armagh, Conor Murphy, as he welcomed the departure from Bessbrook.

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Brits go home