THE peace process in Northern Ireland is on a knife-edge, with terrorists refusing to give up their weapons and the decision to create a political assembly postponed. The threat in much of the province has subsided, allowing the police to go about their everyday business without military back-up. But not all the terrorists have signed up to the current ceasefire, and hardline paramilitaries have formed breakaway groups which could yet upset the peace talks. In one tough area of the province close to the Irish border, East Lancashire soldiers are battling to contain terrorists constantly looking for a chance to strike. And last August's Omagh bomb was a grisly reminder of the threat facing the regiment and the local community. In the first part of a two-part Insight Special report, PAUL BARRY examines the reality of life on the border patrol.

RIDING through pretty countryside in the back of an ordinary family hatchback, I looked at the two twentysomething Lancashire lads in the front seats.

Wearing sportswear and jeans, they looked like any young men you might see on the streets of Blackburn or Burnley. Looking through the car window, we could have been driving through Rossendale or the Ribble Valley.

The passenger, gently puffing on a cigarette, told me about his impending divorce, while the lad in the driver's seat quietly sped along the road in the spring sunshine.

I wasn't so relaxed. The driver had a pistol and ammunition within easy reach, while the passenger clutched his walkie-talkie and fingered an automatic rifle by his side.

The area we were driving through, south east Fermanagh, is a hot-bed for a terrorist group which has refused to join the current Northern Ireland ceasefire. Soldiers from East Lancashire have seen at first hand the utter devastation caused by a terrorist attack. They were among the first to witness the human carnage caused by the 200lb car bomb which tore through the market town of Omagh last August.

Troops from the 1st Battalion the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, based at the town's Lisanelly Barracks, had the gruesome task of helping clear the scene where 29 people lay dead and 220 people were injured.

Seven months after the blast, Omagh is starting to rebuilding its community spirit, while the lads from East Lancashire are concentrating their efforts on hard-line terrorist strongholds near the border.

The Queen's Lancashire Regiment soldiers spend five weeks patrolling the area of south east Fermanagh as part of their cycle of duties.

While their other duties see them guarding the Omagh barracks, training, and providing back-up for forces in the rest of the province, it is on the tough border area patrols that the lads feel they are finally putting their skills to good use.

The soldiers go out on patrol to provide back-up for Royal Ulster Constabulary officers in areas where police work is considered unsafe. These patrols, once the norm throughout the province, now only take place in border areas.

The soldiers, dressed in body armour and carrying heavy kit, are flown out from their tiny high-security rural bases by helicopter. As well as backing up the RUC, the troops carry out rural patrols to look for terrorist activity.

The tough terrain means the soldiers are likely to climb up to 30 fences every mile, and at times they must wade through rivers with full kit and weaponry.

Lieutenant Colonel David James, from Clitheroe, is commanding officer of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment. He explained the importance of the ground patrols which East Lancashire soldiers are carrying out.

"The threat here at the moment remains a high in areas where dissident republican groups are operating. We are talking about groups like the Real IRA, who planted the Omagh bomb and the Continuity IRA, who have not signed the ceasefire," he said. "The Continuity IRA are strong in south east Fermanagh area where we patrol. They have mortar bombs and they have car bombs as well as weapons including guns.

"Since the ceasefire was announced in July 1997 we have been operating at a very high tempo because of the police's concern over these dissident republican groups.

"This regiment is the only one which is still patrolling to the same extent. The terrorist threat has been pushed down to the border regions. That is why the area we patrol is such a crucial area and we are targeting people in those places."

He said the bomb which ripped through the heart of Omagh had changed the relationship between the troops and the townspeople. "Things are beginning to get back to normal, but you would not be able to go shopping in town without seeing somebody who was blinded or lost a limb in the bomb.

"The bomb changed the relationship between the soldiers and people here. After the bomb people were coming up to the lads in the cordon and shaking their hands. People who would not normally be seen dead talking to a soldier were saying how genuinely grateful they were for the things the RUC and the Army did.

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