2 R IRISH HAVE A BUSY END TO 2015

Members of 2 R Irish have had a busy end to 2015, with involvement in Defence Engagement across NI as well as adventure training and deployment on Op Tosca.

The Band of the Royal Irish Regiment, along with the Pipes and Drums of the 2nd Battalion, have been actively involved in changing perceptions across the Province. They have attended Army Benevolent Fund (ABF) concerts and Regimental events such as dinners or Services of Reflection. They recently attended a sell-out concert in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh for the ABF as well as being pivotal in the Annual Service of Remembrance at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast. On the run up to Christmas the Pipes and Drums performed at many of the Christmas lunches and dinners such as the one below at Lisburn Barracks where they were performing for HQ Company soldiers’ Christmas lunch:

A platoon plus made up from soldiers across the battalion are currently deployed to Cyprus on Op TOSCA based in Nicosia with 1 SCOTS from Palace Barracks, Hollywood. They enjoyed some Christmas adventure training, canoeing and scuba diving to break the operational and training cycle along with crowd control training with 1 SCOTs:

Several members of the battalion attended Ex Frosted Blade in Val-d’Isère with the Army skiing team representing the Infantry, which is almost an annual event for them. Capt Rocky Mallon leads the Irish contingent. The event is ran over 4 weeks of intensive training followed by competitions.