Royal Irish Regiment

A regiment of the British Army formed in July 1992 when the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) and the Royal Irish Rangers were merged. Most commentators saw this as a move to try and deal with the persistent criticism of the UDR. The UDR was almost entirely Protestant and a number of its members were actively involved with Loyalist paramilitary groups. The RIR was made up of six home battalions and one battalion for service overseas. The RIR was comprised of 5,500 soldiers; 3,000 being full-time and 2,500 part time. On 1 August 2005 it was announced that the three Northern Ireland-based battalions of the RIR would be disbanded on 1 August 2007 as part of the British Army's response to the IRA ending its armed campaign. More than 3,000 soldiers serve in the three 'home-based' battalions, many of these are part-time soldiers. Unionists reacted angrily to the announcement but nationalists welcomed the move. (It was also announced that the British Army would end its support role to the police on 1 August 2007.) On 9 March 2006 it was announced that there would be a special redundancy package costing up to £250m for the 3,000 Northern Ireland RIR soldiers affected by the disbandment. Full-time soldiers will receive a special payment of £28,000, a redundancy payment and a pension. Part-time soldiers will receive a special payment of about £14,000, but are not entitled to redundancy. (See also: Ulster Defence Regiment, UDR.)