Sinn Féin News, 25.6.2007
Last British troops pull out of South Armagh
The last British troops have pulled out of South Armagh. The British Army is
closing down its last base at Bessbrook, County Armagh today. British Army
watchtowers have already been taken down in the area.
At the height of the conflict, Bessbrook had the busiest heliport in Europe,
but the last flight took place at the weekend.
Sinn Féin MP and Minister for Regional Development Conor Murphy said: "This
is obviously welcome news for the community of South Armagh, who have had to
live under British military occupation for the past 30 years.
"Sinn Féin made the issue of demilitarising communities like South Armagh a
central part of the political negotiations. We are happy we have now arrived
at this point."
By the summer there will be no more than 5,000 British soldiers in the north
of Ireland, based in 11 locations.
At the height of the conflict there were almost 30,000 British army
occupation troops, based in more than 100 locations.
