By Lauren Harte

The Finn Valley’s only army barracks is to close by January 31^st next as part of budget cuts announced yesterday by the Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan.

Lifford Barracks along with Letterkenny’s Rockhill, which have almost 40 years of service in Donegal are both facing the axe and will be consolidated into Finner Camp at Ballyshannon. A total of 265 military personnel will be affected by the closure, 130 of which are based at Lifford.

As part of cost saving measures, the Government has decided to close five barracks in Dublin, Letterkenny, Lifford, Longford and Monaghan by January 31^st 2009. All Donegal based personnel will be accommodated at Finner, which is 70km away and has superior facilities including a training range.

Lifford Military Post on the site of the former Prior school, a protected structure, comprises approximately 2.6 acres while Rockhill is located on a 30 acre site, three miles outside Letterkenny and includes an 18th century listed building.

In the region of 130 military personnel permanently occupy Lifford post with 135 based at Rockhill, consisting of A Coy of the Finner based 28 INF BN and some long/short term attachments.

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The Minister for Defence, Willie O’Dea said the closure of the barracks was a difficult decision and brings an end to almost four decades of the Defence Forces close connections with communities Letterkenny and Lifford.

“Lifford and Rockhill Barracks were specifically opened to provide for the requirement for border duties. The withdrawal of the British Army deployments coupled with reduced paramilitary activity has removed the rationale for having seven barracks/posts along the border. These will now be consolidated into three posts,” he said.

However, Cllr Jimmy Harte has described the measure as “very drastic”.

“It’s more important to have an army barracks along border areas in East Donegal than in Dublin, where we have seen a number of robberies and shootings recently. While this is a financial plus for the Government, it is a very drastic decision and sends out a signal to those who use the border as an escape route that it is now less secure.” 

While the sale of the vacant barracks may produce substantial resources for the modernisation process in Defence, the Government says it may be some time before the sites are sold, given the present state of the property market.