Nearly €50 million of an upgrade for Irish soldiers as new headquarters is set to be built
Construction on the project is expected to begin later this year
A headquarters for elite Irish soldiers is set to be built in Kildare at a cost of 46 million euro, with the Tánaiste and Defence Minister Simon Harris bringing a memo on the project to Cabinet on Tuesday, April 15.
The Army Ranger Wing’s headquarters and training centre will be located at the Curragh Camp in Co Kildare and construction on the project is expected to begin later this year.
The Army Ranger unit carries out special operations. An example of this is the evacuation of Irish citizens from Afghanistan in August of 2021.
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The Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces recommended developing the Army Ranger Wing so that it has “organic self‐sustainment capability”, including combat helicopter assets “to insert, operate and extract from mission areas”.
It recommended replacing the “complex and opaque” command structure of the unit and clarifying how it would interact with the Garda Emergency Response Unit when required.
It also been recommended to rename the Army Ranger Wing to Ireland’s Special Operations Force (IRL SOF) to align with international norms and include permanent Air and Maritime Task Groups in Casement Aerodrome and Haulbowline Naval Base.