The Royal Irish Regimental band is to give one of its last performances in the West of the Province at a special concert at Enniskillen, in conjunction with the historic Inniskillings Regimental Museum.
The event is being planned to mark another leg in the fundraising efforts of the museum which is und
ergoing a massive £500,000 redevelopment programme, to expand its military collections and develop its educational and information technology base, providing access for all.
The concert by the Royal Irish Regimental band is significant as over 3,000 soldiers and officers in three home service battalions were made redundant last September and the band is officially winding down, in line with barracks closures at head quarters in Ballymena.
Jack Dunlop, curator of the Inniskillings Regimental Museum said the move the last few pages in the band's final chapter. He said other great many military bands had been lost with the regimental changes over the years.
In 1992 the Ulster Defence Regiment and The Royal Irish Rangers merged to form the modern day Royal Irish Regiment to support police in Northern Ireland. Previously the Royal Irish Rangers were formed in 1968, merging 27th Inniskillings, 83rd and 87th.
"It will be a unique opportunity to be present at a fond farewell," he said.
"The Inniskillings Museum project is on target and the fundraising has gone extremely well. We have been fortunate to have two large grants and had to raise over 30 per cent of all the costs, which we have almost achieved," he said.
"We hope the physical work on the buildings will be carried out over the Winter, with a relaunch in early Summer," he said.
"Our main ethos is to retain, the military history of the Inniskillings in the regiment's home town," he said.
The concert will take place on Wednesday September 12, 2007 at 8pm, at the Killyhevlin Hotel, Enniskillen. Tickets are available from the Inniskillings Museum Tel : 028 6632 31 42.
ENDS
(September 3 2007)
