Operation Banner, 38 years of British military intervention in Northern Ireland, ended at midnight last night with no ceremony or anything that gave an impression of withdrawal.
Army headquarters at Thiepval Barracks near Lisburn confirmed yesterday there would be nothing to mark the end of the longest single military operation in British military history.
Instead a symbolic handover is planned at the barracks for Friday involving 39 Brigade, which is being disbanded, and the arrival of a re-formed 38th (Irish) Brigade
The army is stressing no soldiers will be sent to Northern Ireland to support the PSNI. Its head in Northern Ireland, Gen Nick Parker, said Operation Banner had helped create the necessary conditions for a political solution.
