There will be no let-up in our efforts to support the police in the fight against terrorism

Lieut Gen Alistair Irwin GOC

Work on removing Glassdrumman Hill observation tower in south Armagh began on Tuesday.

The operation to remove the tower is expected to last for several months and will follow similar work being carried out at other bases in the area.

The closures will bring troop levels to just under 13,500 and the number of Army bases to 59.

Ebrington Barracks is due to close in December 2003. A total of 164 civilian jobs at the base will also go but the Army said it would try to minimise redundancies.

GoC Lieutenant General Alistair Irwin said the closures were an "important step on the road to normality" in Northern Ireland.

"The terrorist threat and our response to it are kept under constant review and such initiatives can only happen when considered safe and appropriate," he said.

Mitchel McLaughlin: "Demilitarisation is too slow"

"There will be no let-up in our efforts to support the police in the fight against terrorism."

The announcement comes three months after four security installations were dismantled in response to the decommissioning of some IRA weapons last October.

Three security installations are being demolished in south Armagh while an army base in Magherafelt, County Londonderry, is to be dismantled, as part of negotiations between the pro-Agreement parties and the London and Dublin Governments at Weston Park last August.

There are real concerns here that we are leaving the border wide open in the face of an obvious level of threat

Danny Kennedy Assembly member

Northern Ireland Secretary Dr John Reid welcomed the announcement as "consistent with the government's commitment to normalised security arrangements."

He said: "It is a clear indication that the security response is proportionate to the level of threat."

However, the DUP MP for the area, Gregory Campbell said he was not happy with the closures.

The decision to demolish the Glassdrumman army watch tower has been welcomed by those living in its shadow.

'Too soon'

Toni Carragher, of the South Armagh Farmers and Residents Committee said its removal would be a relief for many people.

"It will be great to know that we haven't a monstrous observation post staring into our homes all the time - we will have that little more privacy," she said.

However, Danny Kennedy, an Ulster Unionist assembly member for the area, said it was too soon to remove the watchtowers.

Today's decisions are welcome and confirmation that normalisation is advancing in a real and significant manner

Alex Attwood SDLP

"There are real concerns here that we are leaving the border wide open in the face of an obvious level of threat and in the face of reasons that are being taken for purely political expediency and not on the proper grounds of overall national security," he said.

Demilitarisation was a key demand from Sinn Fein during discussions before the breakthrough.

The party's chairperson, Mitchel McLaughlin, said the government's approach to demilitarisation was "too slow".

Alliance Party leader David Ford called for resources to be redirected to policing in the province.

SDLP chairman Alex Attwood called on political leaders and paramilitaries to match the move.

"Today's decisions are welcome and confirmation that normalisation is advancing in a real and significant manner," he said.