FIFTY Army wives in Dundalk marched yesterday outside Aiken Barracks in the town in protest against the unsocial hours they say their husbands are being forced to work.
The women claimed that some husbands are working over 70 hours a week and they said they wanted more free time with their husbands, rather than overtime earnings.
Announcing a national campaign on the issue, similar to one started by Army wives eight years ago, the women pledged to continue lobbying senior Government and Army representatives until their husbands' working hours are reduced.
They met the Officer Commanding, Col Dermot Earley, and afterwards Mrs Aileen Shields, representing the wives, said he told them "the men get a 12 hour rest every 24 hours of duty". Col Earley said he was not in a position to offer any changes in the working arrangements.
Mrs Shiels said "the hours our husbands are working is leading to a lot of stress among families", and that their grievance "solely lies with the Government. What we felt in 1988 was that we would like to see less hours worked or overtime and all allowances paid. These problems have not been properly addressed and we the wives feel that pressure must be brought on the powers that be."
She said that in some cases soldiers have been asked to work 24 hour duties with a short break in between. The increasing hours are also due to extra troops being deployed along the Border as part of the BSE patrol.