Athlone to lose Western Brigade status

The 4th Western Brigade is to be disbanded, it was confirmed in the Dáil this afternoon. Minister of State at the Department of Defence Paul Kehoe made the announcement that the 4th Western Brigade, which is headquartered in Athlone, will be abolished, but he said 1,000 jobs at Custume Barracks will be retained. The Minister of State said Defence Minister Alan Shatter had received an interim report from the Chief of Staff and the Secretary General of his Department on the restructuring of the Defence Forces. If all posts were to be filled some 1,440 jobs would be based at Custume Barracks, but Minister Kehoe said 1,050 are currently based at the barracks in Athlone. The Minister of State moved to clarify the future status of the barracks in light of "misleading speculation" about its future and said he was "disappointed at the necessity to do so". Reacting to the announcement, Deputy James Bannon (FG) said it was "black evening for the Midlands". Fianna Fáil Deputy Robert Troy insisted there are over 1,400 personnel based at the army barracks in Athlone and said the downgrading would mean a loss of at least 400 jobs or €20m to the local economy annually. Deputy Troy said the change would mean that, for the first time in the history of the State, there would be no army commander based in Athlone. He pointed out that this news followed the last year's closure of Columb Barracks in Mullingar. "What has this Government got against Westmeath?" asked Deputy Troy. More to follow later