By Brendan Anderson

THE last remaining British Army watchtower was this week removed from the Republican heartland of South Armagh.

The watchtower, or spy post, at Crossmaglen Police Station is the last of 14 British Army installations that have been removed from the South Armagh area in the last two years.

The dismantling of the Crossmaglen watchtower is seen as highly symbolic, given the village’s place at the heart of Republicanism in south Armagh.

Throughout the Troubles the number and ferocity of PIRA attacks on British soldiers in South Armagh led to it being dubbed as Bandit Country.

Built in 1992, the British Army said the aim of the Crossmaglen watchtower was to protect soldiers and police officers at a time when security forces could only travel to the police station by helicopter.

However, Crossmaglen residents had campaigned for years for the removal of the watchtowers claiming they were being used to spy on the local community. Land belonging to the local GAA club was seized by the British Army with a watchtower erected directly beside the club’s football pitch.

However, this week’s demilitarization move means that British soldiers will no longer be stationed at the Crossmaglen site, which will now be used solely as a police station in the future.

When the IRA ceasefire was announced in August 1994 there were more than 106 British Army bases across the North.

A total of 13 watchtowers have been removed from hilltops around South Armagh since October 2001, while the number of British Army bases across the North will have been reduced to just 14 by August.

The number of soldiers stationed in the North will also be reduced to 5,000 — the lowest number in 30 years.

The closures of bases and dismantling of watchtowers has gone hand-in-hand with IRA decommissioning and a reduced security threat.

While the demilitarization measures have been welcomed by Sinn Fein, they have been criticized by unionists as a “sop” to Republicans.