Outgoing Minister for Defence Éamon Ó Cuív has directed the Army Equitation School, targeted for abolition in the McCarthy report on public spending, should be retained.
The Minister said he had given a direction to the Department of Defence that the reorganisation of the Defence Forces should progress on the basis the school would be retained based on spending plans in the national recovery programme.
He also directed the retention of a full-strength Irish-speaking battalion based at Renmore Barracks in Galway, the nearest barracks to the largest Gaeltacht in the country.
In 2009, the McCarthy report recommended the Defence Forces should lose 500 personnel, close more Army barracks, cut back on overseas missions and that it close the world-famous Army Equitation School.
The proposed closure of the school would save an estimated €1 million, with the overall savings from cuts to Department of Defence budgets coming to €53.4 million.
In a statement today, however, Mr Ó Cuív said: “As Minister for Defence I believe it is fundamental to the whole character of the Irish Army that it would have an Irish speaking battalion and that it is logical that that battalion would be based in the barracks nearest the largest Gaeltacht in the country.”
He said the barracks at Renmore had a “proud history” and that its retention was “of major significance” to the Army and the country. It was also in line with the 20-year strategy on the Irish language, he said.
Mr Ó Cuív said that investment in the equitation school, which was founded in the 1920s, was “minimal compared to the promotion that the school gives to the Irish horse at home and abroad and the reputational benefit to be gained by having army riders participate at prestigious shows throughout the world”.
“As one of the foremost horse breeding nations, it is very important that we retain every element of the promotion of horses in this country.
“The equitation school has a proud record in representing Ireland, and I believe that in whatever reorganisation takes place in the Defence Forces, that the Equitation School should be maintained.”
He said he had directed the school be retained in the review of the Defence Forces expenses vote programmes and expenditure arising from the National Recovery Plan 2011.