Hi,
RIR Homecoming Photo’s
Today we had out local regiment home. Thousands welcomed them home amid a demonstration by Sinn Fein and some minor trouble by loyalists. Unfortunately the flypast by RAF Typhoons was cancelled by the M.O.D.
Most of the photo’s are of the gobshites on the loyalist side. The Sinn Fein demonstration was quite dignified and as usual it was just the loyalist thugs that let the whole thing down. No trouble though, but i’m sure there will be some bother in Belfast tonight. One of the bonusses of having a nice big camera is that i can stride confidently into the press area and i quite happily mingled with the media getting nice and close to the action.
The Royal Irish is the regiment i belonged to and i was very proud to see them coming home. The dog is an Irish Wolfhound and is the Regimental Mascot, named Brian Boru VIII after the leader of the Celtic resistance against the vikings. The R. Irish wear the corbeen which is defined as an irish peasants hat. The Irish Guards were also there as were members of other regiments who were attached to the RIR.
I saw a lot of ex-soldiers there i served with and it was good to catch up with them. A good day 
Thanks Richy.
Despite any politics and protestations, it’s still good to see our men (and women?) that made it back home.
Thanks Richy…not only for keeping us informed about your own corner of Europe, but above all for sharing your feelings with us. You make it easier to feel closer.
Rightfully proud Richy, job well done!
Thank you, Richy! And ~S~! to Soldiers, job well done indeed!
They were expecting protests on that parade…did they get any?
Good to see them back safe.
Dan, on the BBC website it says the protests were kept in a differant area to avoid clashes.
Yep, the protest was by Sinn Fein and was claimed to be about their disagreement about the war on Afghanistan and Iraq. However, when they turned up they were actually demonstrating about catholic civilians (allegedly) killed by the Royal Irish Regiment (RIR) and the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) during the troubles. The placards they are holding up are the names of these people. The black balloon release had a balloon for each of the names.
I’m not even going to get into the ins and outs of it all. I worked for Army Intelligence and all i’ll say is that there is a helluva lot goes on that never see’s the light of day, on ALL sides.
Anyway, Sinn Fein turned up without any youths whereas the loyalists who support the troops turned up with UFF/UVF leaders amongst a crowd of mainly gobshites. No surprises there. The Republicans came out looking the more dignified as the loyalists were throwing beer cans, bottles and fireworks.
But there was only one arrest and it went off peacefully enough (for a N. Ireland parade).