THE Army has stepped up assistance to gardai patrolling Border roads in response to the threat of a loyalist attack in the Republic.
Troops from the 27th and 29th battalions, stationed in Border areas, have been called out in support of the Garda Siochana and are expected to remain on duty while the threat of a retaliatory attack remains.
The Minister for Defence, Mr Barrett, said yesterday there had been no reduction in the number of troops at the Border since the ceasefire began and there was no plan to change this. Some 1,500 soldiers are serving in the Border area.
He pointed out that it was still the hope of the Government to resolve the crisis caused by the ending of the IRA ceasefire through talks.
Mr Barrett, who visited the Curragh Camp yesterday, said although there had been a reduction in specialist services, including the removal of the two Air Corps helicopters used to patrol the Border and the reduction of bomb disposal teams, these could be replaced quickly.
There were no plans to redeploy the two helicopters, which have been diverted to assisting gardai in ordinary crime duties. Air Corps sources pointed out, however, that the aircraft could be returned to the Border within hours if called upon.
There are three Army battalions at the Border the 28th in Donegal, the 29th in Monaghan and the 27th in Dundalk, and a motorised squadron, based in Longford, which also serves in the western Border area.
Meanwhile, the crisis appears to have put on hold plans to reduce the Defence Forces. There had been concerns among the Defenee Forces about Government proposals to greatly reduce the size and deployment of the Army.
At one stage last year a plan to reduce the Army from a four brigade structure to a single brigade was being put forward by consultants. This is almost certain to be rejected in the light of the new IRA campaign, Army sources predicted.
John Maher adds Garda headquarters in Dublin said last night that "Operation Shannon" is not being ended despite the new demands on Garda resources following the end of the IRA ceasefire.
The operation, aimed at reducing attacks on the elderly in rural areas in the west, "remains in place", a spokesman said.
The Garda was responding to a statement from the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association which said the operation was being wound up.
"While we appreciate that extra Garda resources have to be assigned to anti terrorist operations in the wake of a return to violence by the IRA, it is hardly fair that the most vulnerable sector of the communities in rural Ireland has to suffer as a result", said the ICMSA president, Mr Frank Allen.