My view about Northern Ireland would be that British and Northern Irish Unionists forces would be too tough for Republic of Ireland forces to take on on their own ground, even during a nuclear war.
Irish Republican terrorists were suprisingly resourcefull and determined, but they tended to cross the border when things got to hot for them as they knew British security forces couldn't pursue them. Unionist terrorists and paramilitaries on the other hand had a more ruthless reputation as there was nowhere for them to run. In a full scale war in Northern Ireland there would be little or no restrictions on British security and police force activity, and they would turn a blind eye to Ulster Unionist terrorists.
Although Irish troops are highly regarded, and have historically and continue to be among best soldiers in the British Army, Republic of Ireland military forces are generally inferior to their British counterparts in training and are not as well equiped. The Irish Army is very underfunded and uses mainly outdates equipment, while the Irish Air Corp has little combat and transport capability, and the Irish Naval Service is little better than a coast guard force.
Compared with Republic of Ireland military resources, Britain's military resources and capablities are vastly superior in every way. One RN frigate would sink the entire Irish fleet, and a couple of second line RAF Hawk jets would knock out the entire Irish air force in a day. One British Army armoured regiment could be loaded on a few car ferrys and be in Northern Ireland in a few hours, and it would obliterate the Irish Army as a functional force.
NORTHERN IRELAND
BRITISH ARMY
Currently only one British Army brigade is stationed in Northern Ireland-38th (Irish) Infantry Brigade.
38th (Irish) Infantry Brigade reformed in 2007. The brigade is under the command of the 2nd Division, the regional division for Scotland, Northern England and Northern Ireland, and is responsible for administering the Territorial Army within Northern Ireland. This was the culmination of a drawdown of military headquarters in Northern Ireland, which saw the disbandment of 3 Infantry Brigade, 8 Infantry Brigade, 39 Infantry Brigade and 107 (Ulster) Brigade.
HQ Northern Ireland
15 Signal Regiment
38 Infantry Brigade:
• HQNI Support Battalion
• 2nd Battalion, The Royal Irish Regiment (27th (Inniskilling), 83rd, 87th and Ulster Defence Regiment)
• 591 (Independent) Field Squadron, Royal Engineers
• 152 Transport Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps
• 253 Medical Regiment, Royal Army Medical Corps
• Queen's University Officer Training Corps
B (North Irish Horse) Squadron, Queen's Own Yeomanry
40 (Ulster) Signal Regiment
206 (Ulster) Battery, 105th Regiment Royal Artillery (Volunteers)
204 Field Hospital, Royal Army Medical Corps
5 Regiment, Army Air Corps
25 Engineer Regiment
8 Detachment, Lisburn, Northern Ireland - 243 Provost Company (Volunteers)
3rd Infantry Brigade was based in Portadown Ireland from 1974 until 2004 when it was disbanded. It was the HQ element for the security forces which controlled the South Armagh region, and included several battalions of the Ulster Defence Regiment.
8th Infantry Brigade was based in Derry from the late 1960s to 2006, and covered the north and northwest regions of Ulster. Its HQ was moved to Ballykelly in 2003 and the brigade was disbanded in 2006.
39th Infantry Brigade was deployed to Northern Ireland in 1969 and was responsible for the security of Belfast and the eastern region of Ulster. It was named 39 Airportable Brigade when it was first sent to Ireland, and under its command were elements of the Parachute Regiment which was involved in the Bloody Sunday incident in 1972. The brigade took on some units from the disbanded 3rd Infantry Brigade in 2004, and was amalgamated with 107 (Ulster) Brigade in 2006 and disbanded in 2007.
107th (Ulster) Brigade was based in Ballymena and was responsible for administering the Territorial Army within Northern Ireland. It was disbanded in 2006 and amalgamated with 39 Infantry Brigade and then into the 38th (Irish) Infantry Brigade in 2007.
Many regular British Army infantry regiments and units from mainland Britain did tours in Northern Ireland, including the Parachute Regiment, the Special Air Service, and Royal Marine Commandos.
ROYAL IRISH RANGERS
British Army infantry regiment formed in 1968 when the three surviving Irish regiments of the British Army were amalgamated into a single regiment. Although an Irish based regiment the Rangers were resistant to serving in Northern Ireland during the height of the “ Troubles ”, and its troops served tours in Germany, the Falklands and elsewhere, and the regiment actively recruited from South of the Border. However the Rangers did serve in Northern Ireland from 1989-1991. The regiment amalgamated with the Ulster Defence Regiment to form the Royal Irish Regiment in 1992.
Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
Royal Ulster Rifles
Royal Irish Fusiliers (Princess Victoria’s)
Weapons: Standard British Army issue.
Vehicles: Standard British Army issue.
ULSTER DEFENCE REGIMENT (UDR)
Former British Army Territorial infantry regiment with 11 battalions at peak strength. Highly politicised and accused of both sectarianism and collusion with Loyalist paramilitaries and abuses against catholic community. Catholic members accounted for 3% of strength during the 1980’s and 1990’s. The regiment amalgamated with the Royal Irish Rangers to form the Royal Irish Regiment in 1992.
1st (County Antrim) Battalion
2nd (County Armagh) Battalion
3rd (County Down) Battalion
4th (County Fermanagh) Battalion
5th (County Londonderry) Battalion
6th (County Tyrone) Battalion
7th (City of Belfast) Battalion
8th (County Tyrone) Battalion
9th (County Antrim) Battalion
10th (City of Belfast) Battalion
11th (Craigavon) Battalion
Weapons: 7.62mm L1A1 SLR rifles, 9mm Browning pistols, 9mm Sterling SMG’s, 7.62mm L4A4 Bren LMGs, 7.62mm L7A2 FN MAG GPMGs, as well as small stocks of Walther PPK pistols, Federal riot guns and Carl Gustav 84mm grenade launchers. 5.56mm SA80 began replacing L1A1 SLR in the 1980’s.
Vehicles: ¾-ton Land Rovers, Shorland armoured cars, three & four-ton Bedford trucks, and unmarked civilian cars and vans. UDR troops were frequently deployed on Army and RAF helicopters, usually the Army Lynx.
ROYAL ULSTER CONSTABULARY (RUC)
At its peak the RUC had around 8,500 police officers with a further 5,000 members of the RUC Reserve, which was the second largest police force in the United Kingdom after the Metropolitan Police of London. The Special Patrol Group was a RUC police unit tasked with counter terrorism. Each SPG had 30 members. Many SPG units were accused of collusion with the paramilitary group the Ulster Volunteer Force.
Weapons: 0.38 Ruger Security Six revolver, 7.62mm Ruger Mini-14 carbine, 9mm HK MP5 SMG’s, as well as some 9mm Glock 17 pistols, 7.62mm HK G3 and 5.56mm HK33 rifles.
Vehicles: ¾-ton Land Rovers, civilian cars and vans.
ROYAL AIR FORCE
RAF Aldergrove (20th September 2009 ceased to officially be RAF base)
No. 230 Squadron (9x Puma helicopters)
No. 3 Squadron, RAF Regiment
5th Regiment Army Air Corps (6x Defender multi-purpose patrol and recon aircraft, 6x Islander patrol and utility aircraft)
PSNI Air Support Unit (1x EC-135 helicopter)
***
No. 72 Squadron operated Puma & Wessex helicopters until 2002.
No. 18 Squadron operated detachments of Chinook helicopters during the late 1980’s.
* Also Army AH-64, Gazelle and Lynx helicopters periodically deployed to Aldergrove, in addition to RAF Tristars and VC10s.
Shackleton Barracks
Former RAF base. Runways and taxiways remain well maintained and operational, and are used as a refuelling point for army helicopters and small fixed-wing aircraft operating out of RAF Aldergrove.
ROYAL NAVY
4 River-Class minesweepers (Arun, Blackwater, Itchen, Spey)
* All 4 ships moved to HM Naval Base Clyde (Faslane Naval Base) in western Scotland in 1993, and replaced by Hunt-Class minesweepers (Brecon, Cottesmore, Dulverton) in 1998.
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