Just about now, at 11:59pm BDT on July 31, 2007, Britain’s military operations in Northern Ireland come to an end.

There was a bunch of press coverage about it here in London today, and I think that even though it is something of an afterthought considering the political peace process that has been at work for some time it is still a meaningful moment in the history of the United Kingdom.

Even more that the end of British rule in Hong Kong ten years ago, this represents a final moment in the story of European and British colonialism.

From The Guardian:

The British armys longest continuous military operation comes to an end at midnight when responsibility for security in Northern Ireland passes to the police.

Operation Banner lasted 38 years and involved 300,000 personnel, of whom 763 were killed by paramilitaries. The last soldier to die was Lance Bombardier Stephen Restorick, who was shot at a vehicle checkpoint in 1997.

From tomorrow, there will still be a garrison of 5,000 troops in Ulster, but they will not be on active operations and will be available for deployment anywhere in the world.Security will become the responsibility of the Northern Ireland police, and the British soldiers will have a limited role in supporting them.

The complete article from The Guardian: “British army ends Northern Ireland operation”