Which country's longest continuous deployment began because of intense political and sectarian rioting in Northern Ireland?
Operation Banner Operation Banner was the operational name for the British Armed Forces' operation in Northern Ireland from August 1969 to July 2007, as part of the Troubles. It was the longest continuous deployment in the British military's history. The British Army was initially deployed, at the request of the unionist government of Northern Ireland, in response to the August 1969 riots. Its role was to support the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and to assert the authority of the British government in Northern Ireland. At the peak of the operation in the 1970s, about 21,000 British troops were deployed, most of them from Britain. As part of the operation, a new locally-recruited regiment was also formed: the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR).
Law enforcement in Ireland This is a description of law enforcement in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Before the Republic (then called the Irish Free State) left the union, one police force - the Royal Irish Constabulary - policed almost the whole island (aside from Dublin, where the Dublin Metropolitan Police were the main force, Belfast where the Belfast Borough Police were the main force and the borough of Londonderry where the Londonderry Borough Police were the main force before merging with the RIC. See List of defunct law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom and Irish Police records and also Royal Irish Constabulary Forum for other forces in Ireland that have been disbanded.).