WILLIE PENROSE was being hailed a hero in Mullingar yesterday as news of his resignation over the impending closure of Columb barracks began to filter through.
The Cabinet has approved the closure of four barracks – in Mullingar, Clonmel, Cavan and Castlebar – by the end of next March.
The decision, which prompted the resignation of Labour minister of state Willie Penrose, will affect 540 soldiers, who will be redeployed. The four barracks will be sold, with the proceeds used to fund infrastructure and investment in Army facilities.
The 515 affected Army personnel and 25 civilians will be offered a nine-month relocation allowance if they move to a new barracks, Taoiseach Enda Kenny told the Dáil, adding only a minority of staff affected by previous closures had ultimately chosen to move house.
The 170 members of the 4th Field Artillery based at Columb Barracks in Mullingar will move to Athlone. Some 200 soldiers in the 12th Infantry Battalion at Kickham Barracks, Clonmel, will join the rest of the battalion in Limerick.
Staff at the Defence Forces Reserve headquarters in Clonmel are expected to transfer to the Curragh. Those at the Military Police headquarters will probably move to the Curragh or Newbridge.
The 130 members of 6th Infantry Battalion based at Dun Uí Neill, Cavan will join the rest of the battalion in Athlone. The Reserve Defence Forces in Castlebar is also closing, but it is not yet clear where the 15 members of the Permanent Defence Forces stationed there will be relocated.
Numbers in the Defence Forces have been falling in recent decades, partly due to the Northern peace process. There were more than 15,000 troops at the height of the Troubles in 1981, but this fell to 10,500 in 2000 and to about 9,500 today.
The closures announced yesterday will leave 14 permanently occupied military posts in the State, three of them in Dublin.
Mr Kenny told the Dáil the previous government closed 10 barracks, of which six had been sold to raise €85 million which was invested in the Defence Forces.
Mr Kenny claimed the closures would not result in job losses. “This is not the same as Aviva, or TalkTalk, where jobs are lost and where there’s a resultant move to social protection,” the Taoiseach asserted. “No job is being lost here.”
He rejected Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins’s claim the closures would have grave economic consequences for the towns concerned.
The body representing sailors, soldiers and aircrew, PDforra, was critical of the move.
It called on the Government and Minister for Justice and Defence Alan Shatter to immediately reconsider, saying the resignation of minister of state Willie Penrose over the issue “speaks volumes”.
PDforra general secretary Gerry Rooney said the barracks earmarked for closure had a “proud tradition of service to the State” and engagement with local communities. “The decision to close further barracks makes no economic sense whatever and will produce little in the way of savings for the State,” he said.
“It will cost at least €8 million to execute these closures and the overall savings to the State, when we consider unemployment and other costs, will be minimal.”
He believed the decision to close the barracks was based on a consultant’s report from the early 1990s that had concluded there were too many barracks at the time.
Describing Mr Penrose as a “political hero”, Labour councillor Dan McCarthy said local Westmeath Labour councillors would stand by the former minister.
Businessman Des Walsh of Mullingar Chamber of Commerce believed job losses were sure to follow the move.
“This decision is going to cost the town of Mullingar between €8 and €10 million a year. That’s what this barracks is worth to this town.”
