All change: Images of Belfast past and present

Report: Stephen Tyler

TOWERING over the centre of a vibrant European capital, the Belfast Wheel stands as a glowing testimony to the success of Britain’s longest-running military commitment.

The sight of the giant attraction in a city remembered by a generation of soldiers more for its turmoil than its tourism reflects the optimism and progress that has engulfed Northern Ireland since Operation Banner reached its conclusion last July after 38 hard-fought years.

As many as 25,700 troops were deployed across the water during the peak of the Troubles, but as the political situation thawed so too did the need for manpower and just ten out of an original 105 military bases remained in use at the operation’s end.

But far from cutting its ties with a province it had worked so hard to bring peace to, the Army is instead making giant strides in building bridges with the very communities it spent decades locked in a bloody battle with.

“We have all been surprised by the pace of normalisation,” explained Northern Ireland civil secretary Vincent Devine, the province’s most senior civil servant. “All the changes we hoped to make we have achieved early and without problems and I think that is because the people here are sick and tired of violence and the economic impact that it has.

“I’m always overwhelmed when I go out and meet the local people at the sense of waste they feel over the last 30 years and the strong desire they have to put it behind them.

“Now they are putting their family lives before their politics.”

Looking at the lives of troops stationed in Northern Ireland today lends weight to the argument that the situation there has reached an unprecedented level of normality.

Heading outside the wire without a weapon 20 years ago was unheard of, but soldiers based in the province today think nothing of heading into Belfast for a night on the town, venturing into the lush surrounding countryside or even driving south across the border into the Republic of Ireland.

Likewise, transport links to the capital and beyond have flourished and several budget airlines operate between Belfast and the mainland to make travelling between England and Northern Ireland much easier.

The improvements have not gone unappreciated by soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, The Mercian Regiment, who began their move into Palace Barracks in Holywood, in March.

After a spell in Hounslow, many of the Mercians treated the trip across the Irish Sea with trepidation because of the perceived distance from their Midland home towns, but it has not taken long for the new-and-improved Northern Ireland to win them over.

“For the people that had been here during Op Banner, the situation is so different,” said Cpl Marc Bloor, who served in the province on three previous occasions.

“There are still areas you don’t go to and some of the younger lads can come here after going to Afghanistan thinking that they’re indestructible which isn’t the right attitude, but if you use your common sense then there is no danger.

“It’s a stable environment for us to be in. We try to look for the positives in every situation and there are a lot of them here.”

The Army’s presence in Northern Ireland will grow to around 5,000 personnel this summer when the final elements of 19 (Light) Brigade arrive to join 38 (Irish) Brigade, which draws most of its strength from a thriving Territorial Army contingent.

Regular troops will be stationed at Palace Barracks, Headquarter Northern Ireland’s (HQNI) Thiepval Barracks at Lisburn, Abercorn Barracks at Ballykinler or at RAF Aldergrove.

Training areas at Ballykinler and Magilligan in Londonderry have been adapted to provide theatre-specific training opportunities.New accommodation blocks are currently being built across the province to modernise Op Banner’s campaign infrastructure and Maj Gen Chris Brown, General Officer Commanding HQNI, told Soldier that the work reflects the Army’s long-term commitment there.

“We are seeing more acceptance in all elements of society and I think that in ten years time there will be much greater integration between us and the local community,” he said.

“The British Army is no longer here to support the police, it is here to prepare to deploy overseas and the vast majority of people here have sympathy with that.

“People now have a sense of ownership in the communities and have too much to lose by going back to violence,” he added.

For all of the positive steps being taken between the military and all sections of Northern Ireland’s diverse communities, soldiers serving in the province still have to take precautions and use common sense to avoid trouble.

Certain areas remain out of bounds, but traditional enemies at the top of the political tree are doing their best to break down any remaining barriers by leading by example.

“There is a Sinn Fein Lord Mayor of Belfast who invited me to stand alongside him at a commemoration of the Battle of the Somme,” added Maj Gen Brown.

“That sort of thing is happening everywhere and we are increasingly welcome in areas where we were once treated with at best antipathy and, on some occasions, outright hostility.

“Northern Ireland used to be a posting of choice and that was lost over the last 38 years.
“I’m under no illusions that it will become that again overnight, but we are making good progress.”

Op Banner cost the lives of 763 Service personnel and left thousands more injured, but veterans of the conflict can feel rightly proud of the peace they helped bring to the streets of Northern Ireland.

SEE VOX POP Banner blogs