Would have been the top news story once!

Gerry Adams and his mates- now redundant?

True the arrival of the female bear hunter from Alaska is important but even if the "hockey mom" becomes vice president of the USA, it will not have that much effect on us. But Sarah Palin still is the big news story in the UK and I for one am disappointed by this. I know I may be slightly biased as an ex soldier but there are two other stories that should be above Mrs Palin on TV, the web and in our newspapers.

The announcement by the Independent Monitoring Commission that they now believe that the Provisional Irish Republican Army has relinquished the leadership and structures it used in the troubles. In simple words the Army Council no longer exists. Very soon hundreds of ex soldiers will be in London to remember those who died during Operation Banner (the Army name for operations in Northern Ireland), not sure all of those will think the war is over. I for one do believe that the IRA is not what it was but there is still a big worry about the dissident Republican groups and we have seen this with the murder of Paul Quinn in South Armagh and recent riots by gangs on nationalist estates in some of the smaller towns in the province. So many reasons why this story should be above Mrs Palin.

The other story? also about the Irish and the gun- today it has been announced that another British soldier has been killed in Afghanistan, and this time it happens to be a member of the Royal Irish Regiment. This week the papers have been reporting the success of the British Army of moving the power turbine in Helmand Province. the death today of a British soldier shows that this will be a long campaign but let us all hope that it is not as long as Operation Banner.

South Armagh- leaving Bessbrook Mill

Yesterday the last soldiers left Bessbrook Mill in South Armagh- maybe a legacy of Mr Blair- no more soldiers helping the police in the border area's. But for me- unlike many Labour supporters, it is more than a footnote in the history of New Labour.
I spent almost 2 years working in South Armagh, living in Bessbrook Mill, Crossmaglen and in observation towers on the border itself.
To me it was not a battle for Independence but a place where the rule of law was not enforced where many people were happy to see the IRA keep the police off the streets so they could carry on their lucrative smuggling business.
In the 70's and 80's it was the Falls Road in Belfast, Crossmaglen, and Forkhill that were the places where soldiers were losing their lives, occasionally a TV documentary was made or a few lines in an English paper mentioned the war!
Today if we had the same situation, we would find trouble running out of the security base without falling over a Sky TV crew!
Today the Falls Rd, Shankhill and Newry are replaced by more dangerous places- Basra and Helmund province.
I am glad that Tony and Labour have now got the likes of Paisley and Adams together round a table- I know it is the only way to peace but as Bessbrook closes, I also remember the many soldiers from my Regiment who died in South Armagh and though we know the names of some of the murderers and their leaders who ordered the attacks- we know that they will sit in their large farms, bought with the spoils of their smuggling business, maybe thinking they have got away with it. they probably have but we should not forget the many British soldiers who took part in Operation Banner- the longest operation ever in the history of the British Army.
So Bessbrook Mills closes- once the busiest heliport in Europe- but for soldiers it is not forgotten just added to Aden and Malaya and hopefully one day Basra will be spoke about in the past tense as in the last moth my former Regiment has lost 4 men.
They will be remembered by many as are those who lost their lives in Northern Ireland.