The soldiers will have various duties in Basra

Thirty-five part-time Territorial Army soldiers from the Royal Irish Rangers are to head to Basra.

Their duties will include guarding the airport and escorting military and civilian personnel involved in the reconstruction of the country.

The soldiers have been mobilised for the past nine months and are completing their final days of training in Kent.

Captain Steven Johnston, who is second in command within the platoon, said the soldiers were ready for the task ahead.

"I think the overriding feeling now among the boys from Northern Ireland is they just want to get out there and get on with the job," he said.

The platoon will reinforce a company from the London Regiment.

The Territorial Army has already sent about 400 soldiers from Northern Ireland to reinforce British troops in Iraq.

More than 200 of them have finished their tour, while 150 soldiers are either already in Iraq or preparing to travel there.