Monaghan Army Barracks is to close

Monaghan Army Barracks is one of four camps which are to close following the announcement in last week"s Budget as the government bids to cut costs and to achieve savings in the Defence budget. The others include Longford, and Rockhill House in Letterkenny and Lifford Military Post. The Monaghan closure will lead to the loss of 200 personnel as they are transferred to Dundalk; the 130 soldiers in Longford will move to Athlone. St Bricin"s Military Hospital in Dublin is also being shut down. Proceeds from the eventual sale of the barracks will be spent on further modernisation in the Defence Forces. The Minister for Defence Willie O"Dea said the withdrawal of British army deployments and reduced paramilitary activity had removed the rationale for having seven barracks along the border. He said he regretted the necessity for the closure of the four Border posts as it brought an end to almost four decades of close connections between the Defence Forces and the communities in Monaghan, Longford, and Donegal. He added that the decisions the Government made would enable the Defence Forces to maintain their current level of operations at home and overseas and progress the ongoing modernisation process in the organisation. 'The closure of the barracks will yield savings in administration and personnel costs and their eventual sale should, in the longer term, produce substantial resources for the modernisation process,' he added. The 200 troops in Monaghan will be moved to Aiken Barracks in Dundalk and 130 in Longford transferred to Custume Barracks in Athlone. The barracks are due to close by the end of January but the sale of the properties will be timed to take account of market trends. It is estimated that the sale of four army barracks and a military hospital, announced in the Budget, is expected to yield about €50m. Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, Lieut General Dermot Earley, pledged that the savings and income from the sale will be re-invested in the organisation. He said the benefits of the profits gleaned from the sale of six other barracks in the past could be seen in the modernisation programme in effect today at home and overseas. 'While the closure and relocation may come as a disappointment to some of the personnel involved, there are no job losses,' he pointed out. However, the closures were criticised by the Pdforra, which represents soldiers. General secretary Gerry Rooney said the closures would cause disruption to the soldiers affected and would see between €6m and €12m lost to the economies in Monaghan, Longford and north Donegal. The organisation says the further closure of barracks would yield little additional revenue to help the government in the current financial crisis. Mr. Rooney added: 'Closures are not necessary and would not produce a lot of money for the government because of the lack of demand for building land at the moment.'