2 Royal Irish today

It has detachments in Armagh, Ballymena, Belfast, Enniskillen, Lisburn, Newtownabbey and Portadown. The Battalion is well-recruited and has a current strength of 400 personnel.

Since 2011 the Battalion has deployed 141 personnel on nine training teams to Uganda, Burundi and Tanzania to assist the preparation of the Uganda People’s Defence Force, Burundi National Defence Forces and Tanzanian National Defence Forces for their peacekeeping roles as part of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). In 2012 the Battalion provided support for the London Olympics with 65 soldiers mobilising to cover security tasks for the games.

The Battalion has recently deployed soldiers on Operation TOSCA, the UN peacekeeping mission in Cyprus, and on Operation HERRICK in Afghanistan. 478 personnel have mobilised for operations in the last 10 years. The Battalion has also conducted significant overseas training in the last several years participating in exercises in Cyprus, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, USA and Kenya. The Battalion has also had personnel on Defence Engagement tasks in the last year in South Korea and St. Lucia. The Battalion is active in adventure training, recently kayaking in Gibraltar and skiing in France, as well as sports; sporting teams are mainly focused on football, cross county, boxing and orienteering.

The Battalion’s Bugles, Pipes and Drums are much in demand for parades and functions throughout the Province.