No immediate threat to Lahinch Army Camp future

THE ongoing concerns on the future of the military camp in Lahinch can be put to one side, at least for the next number of years.

The assurance was given by Defence Minister Tony Kileen during the week, despite the specific recommendation under the McCarthy Report that most of the army site in Lahinch be sold and that only portion be retained as part of the programme to raise much-needed cash for the Exchequer.
On a visit last Monday to the week-long Reserve Defence Force annual training camp in Lahinch, Minister Killeen said that had it been decided to follow through with the McCarthy Report recommendation, it would not have been possible to hold this week’s training camp there because of the size of the communications equipment and satellite system being used by course participants. 
Minister Killeen told The Clare Champion that no progress was made in regard to the McCarthy Report recommendation for Lahinch. “The site has not been valued and in view of the economic downturn, it is highly unlikely that it would be attractive to sell it with the way property prices are at the moment. For all kinds of reasons, nothing will be happening – the economic situation dictates that.”
He also noted that were the changes to be made, the military could not use Lahinch in the way they wanted. “To be fair to the people preparing the McCarthy Report, they would not have the military knowledge to make that judgement,” he added.
Referring to the financial spin-off to the area from training camps, Minister Killeen noted that there are over 80 personnel in the camp this week with the potential for many more, depending on what military authorities would decide to do. “One could envisage them doing some of their exercises in advance of going on missions abroad,” he noted.
He added that the Lahinch camp has a maritime capacity because of its location, something other camps do not have. “I don’t think there is any need for anybody in the area to be engaged in any kind of campaigns about the  future of the military camp, certainly not for the next couple of years.”
The reserve force were in Lahinch for training in communications to the level that troops in Chad would have been operating or the Nordic Battle Group, which some of the people in the Lahinch camp are going to. The Fianna Fáil TD is the third Minister for Defence from Clare to visit the Lahinch camp following in the footsteps of Brendan Daly and the late Syl Barrett.
Minister Killeen acknowledged that people in the Army Reserve give a huge amount of their time voluntarily and because they are in civilian employment, bring all kinds of specialities and expert knowledge with them.
He noted that major advances were also made in relation to the quality of training for reservists under the Reserve Defence Force Review Implementation Plan. Training is now defined in an Annual Training Directive and a programme has been put in place to assess and validate the training standards of the Reserve.
Captain Ian Travers, O/C 1 Field CIS, Collins Barracks, Cork, who is a native of Castlelawn, Ennis, explained that 65 reservists from Communication and Information Systems (CIS) Corps are taking part in this week’s training camp. Personnel are from the Southern Brigade (the greater Munster area), Dublin and the Western Brigade. Last October, they began training on sophisticated equipment used with the CIS Corps and this week is the culmination of all the high intensity training, to confirm they are proficient in the various technologies.
The Permanent Defence Force (PDF) senior man at the Lahinch camp this week is Lt Col Peter O Halloran, a native of Ard na Gréine, Ennis, who director of  the Communication and Information Systems. Camp commandant  is Commdt John McDonald, unit o/c of the 31st Field CIS Company based in Limerick. He and General Dave Ashe, 2 IC of the Defence Forces, received Minister Killeen on his arrival and  briefed him on the camp.
The role of the Reserve Defence Force CIS Units is to augment the Permanent Defence Force in contingencies. The strength of the RDF at the end of May was put at about 6,200.