Irish Independent 1/03/03
Call to arms comes a little too soon for this young gun
Irish soldiers training yesterday but one new recruit who won't be joining them just yet is Andrew Geoghegan
IRELAND's youngest boy soldier got his 'call-up papers' this week to the army reserves - at the age of six.
Little Andrew Geoghegan from Ballyfermot, Dublin got a letter from Cathal Brugha barracks asking him to attend an information meeting on joining the reserves if he was interested.
The only problem is that you have to be over 17 to enlist, and Andrew is more interested in his action men than real-life soldiering.
The letter, from the B Company, 20th Infantry Battalion at Cathal Brugha Barracks in Rathmines, Dublin, said that it was recruiting new members for its reserves. It was going back over its records and came across an application from the boy, the letter said.
It went on to say that if Andrew was still interested or wanted more information, he could contact them or go to an information meeting on Tuesday.
"He was also told that he could bring along other friends that may be interested in joining as well as him," laughed Andrew's grandfather, John O'Shea.
A Defence Forces spokesperson said letters were only sent out to people who had expressed an interest in joining the army reserves.
"Someone would have had to give his name and address. We don't just send out random letters to people," said the spokesperson.
Andrew's mother Paula Geoghegan said that her husband, Declan, had been in the army years ago. "But that was before we had any of our eight children and we do not know who could have used Andrew's name and address," she said.
The Defence Forces spokesperson added that the bona fides of those who request information were accepted and it would only be at the next stage that further checks would be done. "His age would soon become apparent," he said.
Martha Kearns
Call to arms comes a little too soon for this young gun
Irish soldiers training yesterday but one new recruit who won't be joining them just yet is Andrew Geoghegan
IRELAND's youngest boy soldier got his 'call-up papers' this week to the army reserves - at the age of six.
Little Andrew Geoghegan from Ballyfermot, Dublin got a letter from Cathal Brugha barracks asking him to attend an information meeting on joining the reserves if he was interested.
The only problem is that you have to be over 17 to enlist, and Andrew is more interested in his action men than real-life soldiering.
The letter, from the B Company, 20th Infantry Battalion at Cathal Brugha Barracks in Rathmines, Dublin, said that it was recruiting new members for its reserves. It was going back over its records and came across an application from the boy, the letter said.
It went on to say that if Andrew was still interested or wanted more information, he could contact them or go to an information meeting on Tuesday.
"He was also told that he could bring along other friends that may be interested in joining as well as him," laughed Andrew's grandfather, John O'Shea.
A Defence Forces spokesperson said letters were only sent out to people who had expressed an interest in joining the army reserves.
"Someone would have had to give his name and address. We don't just send out random letters to people," said the spokesperson.
Andrew's mother Paula Geoghegan said that her husband, Declan, had been in the army years ago. "But that was before we had any of our eight children and we do not know who could have used Andrew's name and address," she said.
The Defence Forces spokesperson added that the bona fides of those who request information were accepted and it would only be at the next stage that further checks would be done. "His age would soon become apparent," he said.
Martha Kearns
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