SUPER TROOPERS

Irish lads in British Army lead Queen’s birthday celebrations

British Army. Spokesman Captain Maurice “Mossie” Hamilton told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “As a battalion, this is the first time we’ve trooped the colour in front of Her Majesty since 2009. It’s a very proud moment.” This weekend The Micks will conduct a full dress rehearsal where William will inspect the soldiers and make sure they are ready to go. The pomp is all in a day’s work for the regiment which was formed on April 1, 1900, by Queen Victoria to recognise the bravery shown by Irishmen in the Boer War. They have served with distinction in two world wars and since then in the North, Hong Kong, Belize, Aden, Palestine, Kenya, Germany, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. Recently they have been deployed to guard London landmarks in the wake of terror attacks.

But whatever the mission, what sets them apart is a healthy quota of Irish accents and humour.

Mossie said: “The wonderful thing about The Micks is that we have soldiers from all over, every corner of Ireland as well as those with Irish heritage from Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool.

“Although you don’t need to be Irish to join us, it’s a family and those who may be from very different backgrounds are brothers in the regiment.”

One area of common ground is GAA and history was made in London last year when a team from the regiment played their first game against an English-born team Tir Chonaill Gaels.

Recently renamed Naomh Padraig,