Sian Fein has condemned what it says is a decision by the British government to send all three battalions of the Parachute Regiment to Northern Ireland in 1997. Such plans were "not only insensitive but a calculated insult to Irish nationalists", according to Mr Gerry O hEara, the party's Northern chairman.
"The decision of the British government to send all three battalions of this Regiment to the North of Ireland in 1997 shows once again the callous disregard English politicians have for the sensitivities of the Irish people." The British army would not confirm or deny the arrival of the Parachute Regiments.