THE British army has refused to comment on a report that five members of the Parachute Regiment were barred from serving in Northern Ireland after they were caught drinking in an illegal loyalist club. The paratroopers were "drinking last year with loyalists in north Belfast who were suspected of being involved in the drugs trade, according to the report.
The soldiers were part of an undercover unit which was assigned to spy on suspected loyalist paramilitaries, The Sunday Times reported. The undercover soldiers revealed to their loyalist drinking companions that they were in the British army. "The problem is they were caught drinking with people from the very group they were supposed to be watching," said one security source.
The soldiers were briefed by MI5 and the RUC Special Branch to monitor the activities of the loyalist paramilitaries believed to be trading in ecstasy.
Security sources added that the soldiers were stopped by an RUC patrol as they were leaving the club, said to be a haunt of senior UDA figures. An inquiry allegedly found that the men, off duty at the time, were picked up by young Protestant women who accompanied them to the club.
Two of the soldiers were since discharged from the army, while the three others are understood to have been transferred to army units outside the North.
