Local anger over the planned closure of the military barracks in Naas and Kildare town is diluted by the knowledge that both were almost inevitable. About 200 people are based at Magee Barracks in Kildare, which is home to the Artillery Regiment and the Air Defence Regiment. A considerably smaller number is based at Devoy Barracks in Naas, which is better known because it is the home of the Army Apprentice School.
The Naas Urban District Council chairman, Mr Paddy Behan, a member of Fianna Fail, is particularly angry that the decision has been carried out by his own party. "I didn't think a Fianna Fail minister would do it. The apprentice school has been part and parcel of Naas since it was opened in 1956."
He said he always believed the school could have been used as an outreach centre for Tallaght Regional Technical College or for the training of civilian apprentices. The number of apprentices at the school had fallen year by year in recent times. The closure of Magee Barracks in Kildare will have some impact on the local economy despite the fact that personnel are being transferred only a short distance away to the Curragh Camp.
Joe Humphries adds:
The Teachers' Union of Ireland is seeking an urgent meeting with the Departments of Defence and Education about the future of 12 civilian teachers at Devoy Barracks. Mr Jim Dorney, general secretary of the TUI, said yesterday's announcement cast doubt over the future of the Army's apprenticeship scheme. The scheme, co-ordinated by Co Kildare VEC, covers such areas as carpentry, mechanics and woodwork. The only other apprenticeship scheme in the Defence Forces is based at Baldonnel for the Air Corp.
"There is an element of uncertainty about what is going to happen to these teachers and the status of apprenticeships in the Army," said Mr Dorney. "After 40 years' service, these teachers should be consulted fully as to how things will change."