A newspaper report has claimed Mr Tony Blair is prepared to radically scale down the Royal Irish Regiment as part of his proposals to persuade the IRA to destroy its weapons and end paramilitary operations.
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Bandsmen from the Royal Irish Regiment
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The report, which is in today's
Guardian
newspaper and cites British army and political sources, claims a British army source said senior officers in the controversial regiment are being prepared for large cuts of staff if the plans are fulfilled.
A British military spokesman in Northern Ireland told ireland.comhe was not prepared to comment on media reports.
However, he said a reduction in the garrison of British soldiers stationed in the North would depend on the security situation.
How these reductions will affect each battalion, including the Royal Irish Regiment, was yet to be figured out, he added.
The British Army, he said, was "determined to proceed with further normalisation measures as soon as the level of threat and political direction allows."
The amalgamation of the Royal Irish Rangers and the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), a controversial branch of the British army, set up in 1970 to replace the discredited B-Specials, formed the Royal Irish Regiment in 1992.
Composed mainly of Protestants, it was considered by nationalists to be a sectarian organisation. Some of its members have been jailed for paramilitary activities over the years.
At the weekend, the Taoiseach appealed to republicans to make the required "acts of completion" and to unionists "to make it clear they are fully committed to inclusive institutions".
Mr Ahern also called on movement from unionists, saying "Assuming the necessary acts of completion are forthcoming from the republican movement, the unionists need to make it clear that they fully committed to inclusive institutions".