Different Cultures make for good comrades

The Royal Irish, like the British Army, generally, is a very cosmopolitan organisation these days.
In addition to the Irishmen from both North and South of the border who make up the greatest proportion of its ranks, there are Australians, South Africans, Fijians and Zimbabweans, as well as volunteers from every region of Britain.

The mixing of so may nationalities and groups seems to bond, rather than divide, with Ulsters political problems seeming fairly petty and alien against such a background.
One such "foreigner" is Captain Greg Murphy, who claims, with distinctly no pride, to be a distant relative to "Slab" Murphy.

From Sydney, Australia, he spent five years in his own country`s armed forces, including a spell in East Timor before transfering to the Royal Irish 18 months ago.

The attraction, according to the 27-year-old, is the variety enjoyed by the British Army.
"They play fastball here," said the jovial captain. "They just turn round and say`right, you are going to spend a month here`, and away you go. You dont get that anywhere else."

The Fijians have impressed with their willingness, though with poor education and often speaking very little English, it can take them time to settle in and progress.
And they have certainly found favour with their Ulster comrades - not least because they volunteer, as sort of a status symbol, to carry the heavy general-purpose machine guns.

Adding to the mix in Canada were soldiers from the Australian and German armies, attached to the Royal Irish for the purposes of learning how other friendly countries train their troops