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The World - News from Dec. 31, 1985

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The British army said that 550 soldiers will be sent to Northern Ireland this week to bolster border security and safeguard the rebuilding of six police stations damaged by Irish Republican Army attacks. It is the first time an emergency army detachment has been ordered into Northern Ireland since 1981, when jailed Irish nationalist guerrillas staged hunger strikes at Belfast’s Maze Prison, spawning widespread violence. Tensions have heightened since the British and Irish governments agreed last month to give the Irish Republic a formal consultative role in administering Northern Ireland. Britain keeps a permanent force of about 9,000 troops in Northern Ireland.

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