February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs raised the issue last week following an incursion by a helicopter at the Armagh-Monaghan stretch of the border at Corrinshigagh, Culloville on Wednesday.
According to witnesses, at least one armed British helicopter traveled about two miles into Monaghan and spent 15 minutes in Irish air space. It reportedly traveled low over houses in the Donaghmoyne area early on Wednesday evening, prompting a Garda investigation.
Sinn Fein has called on the minister for foreign affairs, Brian Cowen, to demand the British government live up to its demilitarization commitments under the terms of the Good Friday agreement.
Republicans in the border region claim that such incursions are a frequent occurrence. Residents of Omeath, Co. Louth, reported that a joint Police Service of Northern Ireland/British army foot patrol entered the village in February. The Police Service of Northern Ireland denied that a patrol had been operating in the area.
The British army still retains 15,000 troops in the North — three times the number deemed necessary for peacetime. A recent report by the Independent Monitoring Commission noted British claims that helicopter flights have been reduced since the start of the year. This has been disputed by South Armagh residents, who point out that the heavily militarized area sees hundreds of overflights every month.
The Northern Ireland Office welcomed the IMC’s findings that “operational flights” had been reduced by 33 percent but failed to take account of a marked increase in training flights and “air tests.” Total flight time for British army helicopters in the North in the last financial year topped 23,000 hours.