army during the Second Boer War, but by 1910 recruitment levels had fallen to 9 percent and for the first time were below Ireland's share of the UK population. During World War I, over 200,000 Irish soldiers volunteered to serve; many recruits from the new Southern state were known as National Volunteers. During World War II, over 70,000 were recruited from the Republic of Ireland and 38,000 from Northern Ireland. The importance of the Irish in the British Army was summed up by Rudyard Kipling, who lost his son, Lt John Kipling of the Irish Guards, in World War I: Present Commonwealth and foreign recruitment Until 1998 there were restrictions on the enlistment of Commonwealth citizens in the British Army. Commonwealth citizens could generally join if they had been resident in the United Kingdom for five years. In 1998 the restrictions were lifted, following recruiting difficulties among British citizens. Under the new provisions Commonwealth citizens were permitted to enlist directly in any one of the British services and significant numbers did so in subsequent years. The Ministry of Defence later capped the number of recruits from Commonwealth countries at 10% of any corps or regiment in the Army, although this did not affect the Gurkhas. The cap was debated, as some feared the army's "Britishness" was being diluted, and employing too many could make the army seem as employing too many mercenaries. In 2008, Commonwealth origin volunteers comprised approximately 6.7% of the Army's total strength. In total, 6,600 foreign soldiers from 42 countries were represented in the Army, not including Gurkhas, i.e. Nepalis. After Nepal, the nation with most citizens in the British Army was Fiji, with 1,900, followed by Jamaica and Ghana with 600 each; soldiers also came from more prosperous countries, such as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. There are also volunteers from the Republic of Ireland – the level of recruitment among Irish nationals has been increasing, and figures for recruitment in Northern Ireland show that 16% came from south of the border during 2008. However, in 2013 the previous restraints were reintroduced with immediate effect, in the context of reduced establishment numbers. From July 2013, all Commonwealth citizens except for those from Ireland, Cyprus, and Malta must have resided for 5 years in the UK before being allowed to join. As of May 2016, commonwealth citizens can enlist in the British army in limited roles