Record numbers of Irish people are joining the British army.

There'll soon be more Irish in the British Military than the PDF

It's not suprising really. With the low numbers being taken on in the Defence Forces and recession and high unemployment it's inevitable.

Funnily enough when i was in Portadown to do my Barb last month, i was chatting to a guy working in the B&B who was telling me that they used to get lads up from the south almost everyday who were going doing interviews or their barb test but that there wasn't many coming up in the last few months. So maybe the numbers applying there at least are down recently for some reason.

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

"Record numbers of Irish people are joining the British armed forces, with the levels increasing by upwards of 10pc each year for the past six years.

It is now estimated that 4,000 Irish citizens are in the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force or the British army".

I would say most of this is down to the recession and cut backs in the defense forces here taking on recruits. You couldn't get a better training than being with British Army at the moment, ie being sent out to Afganistan, Iraq and now Libya.

A mate of mine joined the RAF as a pilot in the 1980's, he had to keep his mouth shut everytime he took leave to return home. Things are a lot different now to the better.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/record-numbers-of-irish-recruits-join-british-army-2597027.html

" It is now estimated that 4,000 Irish citizens are in the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force or the British army". Well you know what they say about paper never refusing ink. Besides how many of them are 'Irish' under the granny rule and how many of those 'Irish' people are from nationalist families either side of the border ?

Manach wrote: »

This seems to be a return to historical trends. For instance during the Peninsular war, about a third of Wellington's men were Irish.

The vast majority of them were economic conscripts. Before that under the Penal Laws Catholics, who would have been 80% or more of the population in Ireland, were banned from been in the British army or navy or owning a firearm until the 1780's.

shaneybaby wrote: »

Conscripts? Never heard of conscription in ireland.

D'oooh..... " The vast majority of them were economic conscripts. "

Utrinque Paratus wrote: »

Thats not true, the Penal laws existed throughout the British isles. Catholics were only banned from being officers.

Yes Fred, the Penal laws were indeed enforced by Britain on Ireland, a country that had 80% plus of it's population Catholic. Catholics were barred under the Penal Laws from serving in all ranks of Britain's armed forces until it was rescinded by the Militia Act of 1793 due to the need for manpower against the threat of revolutionary France.

Utrinque Paratus wrote: »

Why are you calling me Fred ?

http://www.doyle.com.au/irish_soldiers_of_the_british_ar.htm

When the Stuarts were driven in to exile in France in 1652 the bulk of the British Army was Irish. This, for the most part, was from the 20,000 Irishmen, the remains of the Irish Confederate forces that had elected to leave Ireland when Cromwell was victorious there. In April 1656, Charles, the Prince of Wales (later Charles II), with his brother James, signed a treaty with the Spanish Crown and took their army to the Spanish Netherlands to fight France. The Ormonde Regiment was formed of 700 men: The Duke of York's Regiment, The Duke of Gloucester's Regiment (under Lord Taffe), the Muskerry Regiment, and finally an Irish unit under Colonel Farrell. The Irish Regiments again found themselves fighting Cromwell's new model army when allied to France. Elements arrived to fight the Spanish. In May 1660, Charles was restored to Britain as King Charles II. he immediately abandoned his Irish troops, leaving them to rot in Northern France till eventually they were sent to garrison his new Queen's dowry: Tangiers in North Africa.

Your quite well aware of the Penal Laws Fred :rolleyes: