ARmy Rumour SErvice

Good posting, but I still cannot understand why he would join what is a foreign army, when I assume he could join the armed forces of Eire, it would be like me (except I'm approaching dotage) applying to join the armed forces of, say Spain.

If he joined the Irish Defence Force, he could still find himself serving on attachment with particular British units.

Originally Posted by Malthebof

Good posting, but I still cannot understand why he would join what is a foreign army, when I assume he could join the armed forces of Eire, it would be like me (except I'm approaching dotage) applying to join the armed forces of, say Spain.

Because of a few reasons, cadetships here are few and the wanting of them many, the militaries small in number's, some want the "action" if you will, we have no Para's/RM's so some want to be in elite unit's......plus Irish people have always joined the British military, doesn't mean they are not Irish, just means they want to.

oh and the medicals here are a bit stringent on small things


and the UK' hardly a foregin country at least not in that way, you can get on a plane and be there in under an hour, lot of guy's from the Republic in the British forces now, numbers going up infact, and it really doesn't have the stigma it would have in the 70's/80's up to the 90's

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Originally Posted by petergriffen

Originally Posted by Malthebof

Good posting, but I still cannot understand why he would join what is a foreign army, when I assume he could join the armed forces of Eire, it would be like me (except I'm approaching dotage) applying to join the armed forces of, say Spain.

Because of a few reasons, cadetships here are few and the wanting of them many, the militaries small in number's, some want the "action" if you will, we have no Para's/RM's so some want to be in elite unit's......plus Irish people have always joined the British military, doesn't mean they are not Irish, just means they want to.

oh and the medicals here are a bit stringent on small things


and the UK' hardly a foregin country at least not in that way, you can get on a plane and be there in under an hour, lot of guy's from the Republic in the British forces now, numbers going up infact, and it really doesn't have the stigma it would have in the 70's/80's up to the 90's

You could even walk into the UK via counties Down, Armagh, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone.

Originally Posted by Trahere

You could even walk into the UK via counties Down, Armagh, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone.

Most already do:

Latest figures just released in the North show that the number of people from the Republic applying to join the British Army doubled over the past year.
Figures released by the British Army Recruitment in Northern Ireland reveal that 10.5% of all enlistments there came from south of the border.
In the year 2005/2006, just 3% of those who came through the doors of British Army recruitment offices in the North were from the Republic.
The following year that increased to 4.5% and this year it has jumped to a total of 10.5%.

There is a long tradition of Irish citizens serving in HM Forces. We're seeing the return of another tradition, that of Irishmen serving in both British and Irish armies.

This isn't a new thing - 30% of Wellingtons' army in the Peninsular were Irish. In my time in the seventies, I served with many from across the border - despite the troubles.

A few years ago there was a waiting list of up to two years to get into the Irish Army. I believe it was even worse for officers. There is a also perception that they will travel more and see more action in the British Army. So it can be a choice between the British Army and the FFL.

Harry Palmer - Tim Collins' book makes this clear

mnairb - you just beat me to it. A viewing of any 'Sharpe' episode will reveal this !