Minister for Defence Alan Shatter said today that no final decision had been made regarding the closure of army barracks.
His comments come after about a thousand people protested in Mullingar this weekend over fears that Columb Barracks may be closed as part of the government’s efforts to save money.
Speaking on RTÉ radio today Mr Shatter admitted that closures were "an issue that would have to be addressed."
Army wives and families say they are fighting the battle of their lives to stop their garrison town from becoming a ghost town if their local barracks is closed.
Clodagh Graham, whose husband is in the Lebanon on his sixth tour of duty, said the IMF would see through the closure of the barracks on purported cost-saving grounds.
It as “a paper exercise” and an “affront to the intelligence of the community of Mullingar and Ireland,” she said on behalf of the families of 200 soldiers and 120 reservists whose presence contributes about €8million to the local economy.
Army families, many of whom receive Family Income Supplement cannot bear the cost of increased travelling expenses, moving children out of schools and crèches and will be unable to sell their homes to move to another town, she said.
She emphasized the fundraising done by soldiers for local schools and charities and their civil contribution last winter.
“We all saw the work they did clearing our streets and bringing our nurses to and from hospital so that our healthcare could run efficiently. They delivered meals on wheels and stood for hours in the blistering cold distributing water to local residents.”
Junior Minister for housing, Willie Penrose, who has a seat at cabinet, said Mullingar’s 200 year military history is the DNA of the people and must not be sacrificed for a proposal “which does not stand up to scrutiny.”
“Decisions should be based on evidence, on rationality and as to whether they make economic sense for the whole of society, not for just one department or organ of state,” he said, adding that a decision to close the barracks would not meet any of those criteria.
“The closure of this barracks will actually cost money and will save nothing,” said Mr Penrose, who said developing the barracks which would receive the Mullingar soldiers would cost “a blue fortune.”
The 26 acre site is unsaleable even in a buoyant market because the buildings are listed and the surrounding grounds are zoned for leisure use, he said.
He proposed developing the barracks, which has some of the country’s most advanced communications structures and would support a national training centre for an organization like the Reserve Defence Forces, the Civil Defence or Red Cross.
Approximately 300 soldiers were billeted in Mullingar when Barack Obama and Queen Elizabeth visited Ireland and it is the only artillery base in Ireland.