A political row has erupted in Northern Ireland after the Stormont Health Minister formally requested assistance from the British Army to help deal with the coronavirus crisis.
Robin Swann said he has asked the military to assist with the distribution of life saving equipment and in the planning for a temporary emergency hospital.
Sinn Féin has criticised the move and says it is seeking urgent meetings with the Irish and British governments. Codenamed 'Operation Banner', the British Army's military campaign in Northern Ireland formally ended 13 years ago.
The only soldiers on the streets now are bomb disposal experts deployed to assist the police. There are a handful of British army bases, but the soldiers in them are deployed overseas and