Army seeking soldiers – with only two new recruits from Galway
Galway school leavers have been urged to join the Army, as the number of new soldier recruits from the West of Ireland dwindles.
There are currently 40 new recruits being trained at Renmore Military Barracks but just two of them are from Galway and two are from Mayo.
Another 350 soldiers are currently being recruited by the Army nationally and the Galway City barracks expects to be allocated up to 60 of these.
And Commandant Mary Carroll, the first woman to hold the role of Officer in Command (OC) at Renmore Barracks, has issued a rallying call to young people, and school leavers in the West: Your Army needs you!
“I just refuse to accept that young people in the West of Ireland, and especially Galway and Mayo, don’t want to join the Army. We have jobs, and if I was the head of a factory or a business and I announced that we had forty or fifty vacancies then it would be all over the news. We are looking for new recruits from Galway city and county, Mayo and North Clare. We are recruiting.”
Commandant Carroll is in charge of the 448 troops of An Chead Cathlan Cois (1st infantry battalion), which has more than doubled in size since a reorganisation of the Army.
“It is a good news story. We’ve gone from just over 200 to 450. That’s not just good for Galway City it’s good for the entire West of Ireland,” she says.
She says not only is joining the Army an alternative to emigration, it is a viable career choice and alternative to university.
“It’s sometimes difficult to get that across, even to career guidance teachers. Everyone is pushing college but not everyone is suited to college. Not everyone can get 500 points in their Leaving Cert, so we want to recruit people who are looking for alternatives.
“It is also suited to people, who are looking for a change of direction in their career or who are looking for something more adventurous,” she said.
See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.