THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE

9 770010 946001

0 6ISSN 0010-9460

T H E D E F E N C E F O R C E S M A G A Z I N ES A B S 9 4 0 )

JUNE 2008 €5.00 (Stg £4.00)

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p01-11) 21/06/2008 10:21

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p01-11) 21/06/2008 10:21

AN COSANTÓIR June 2008 3

RC c Ke e

ORSg d g

O Sy c aug

We e o ke

Og au O e

P O O G g

U SC P O SSg au O e

R S GK e e g M b e 0 9

e 01 0 9 e ad @ o ee e

P e y K ke Peo eK ke

c cp s n s g do

o d c e o c oo s ex ess d h

u o

© Pub d b O Pub ons S oo D e o s

Q P g ub r

0 0 2 91 01 01a o o

@d nce o o e

ro o eDesigned by Cpl Earl Fitzgerald(DFPP).

O s p p )Designed by Pte TomMcSweeney (DFPP).

An CosantóirV O M 6 8

N m e 5

J e 2 0 0 8

www.military.ie

MessagesFrom the President of Ireland, Minister forDefence and the Chief of Staff.

The Irish Experience in Peacekeeping: An OverviewAn overview of the Defence Forces peace-keeping operations since 1958. Report by Lt Col Kieran Brennan

Missions List

Ireland’s First UN PeacekeeperThe origins of our involvement with the UN asobservers and how one Irishman, Col JustinMacCarthy DSM led the way. Report by Col R.E.M. Heaslip (Retd)

1958 to 1968Report by Sgt David Nagle

Working in United Nations Headquarters Interview with Ambassador Paul Kavanagh,Ireland’s top man at the United Nations.Report by Lt Col Brendan O’Shea

Missions Map


1978 to 1988Report by Armn Michael Whelan

Roll of Honour

Military Awards


1998 to 2008Report by Lt Col Brendan O’Shea

ONEThe Organisation of Ex-service Men andWomen.Report by Lt Gen Gerry McMahon DSM (Retd)

IUNVAThe Irish United Nations VeteransAssociation.Report by Maj Gen Vincent Savino (Retd)

EditorialIn this special issue of An Cosantóir marking 50years of Defence Forces’ involvement with UnitedNations peacekeeping we hope to give our readers agreater understanding of our overseas experience todate. It is not intended as a definitive history of ourUN service, although of course we have tried to beas accurate as possible in relation to dates, mis-sions and key players.

For anyone joining the Defence Forces today, over-seas service is part and parcel of life within theforces, with some 59,000 individual tours of duty hav-ing been completed over the last 50 years. Yet, in 1958the notion of serving abroad wearing an Irish armyuniform was far from anyone’s thoughts. However, inthat year the opportunity arrived when Irelandacceded to a request from the UN Security Counciland dispatched a group of 50 officers to serve asobservers with UNOGIL in Lebanon.

Since then, the Defence Forces has had a continu-ous presence on UN missions around the world,either as peacekeepers or as observers.

The initial observer mission was soon followed byour first major troop contingent, which went to theCongo in 1960 to serve with ONUC.

Today, the Defence Forces has over 811 personnelserving in a variety of missions throughout the world,with the most recent being the deployment of 97 Inf Bnas part of the UN-mandated, EU-led force in Chad.

In viewing our overseas experience for this issuewe have taken a look at each ten-year period since1958 and we have also included a timeline of keydates in national, international, UN and

Defence Forces’ history over these periods. These,we hope, will help to put these missions into theirhistorical context.

For the Irish soldier, overseas service has providedan opportunity to practice their profession in an oper-ational environment, to travel, to see new places andmeet different peoples, to sample foreign cultures,and, importantly, to make a difference where and whenthey could. It gives soldiers a break from the routine ofbarrack life back home, and although overseas serviceitself has its own routine of duties and patrolling itoffers challenges to the professional soldier inregards to operating in harsh and hostile environ-ments, and fosters comradeship through shared hard-ships and reliance on your fellow soldiers.

During our service overseas we have lost 85 of ourcomrades in the line of duty. They and their familieshave made the ultimate sacrifice for the noble causeof trying to protect the vulnerable and bring peace totroubled regions. And regardless of the dangers andrisk of personal harm, volunteers still willingly stepup to the mark to proudly wear the tricolour on theirshoulder representing Ireland and projecting ourIrish ideals of protecting the weak and oppressed.

On behalf of An Cosantóir I would like to thank allour contributors, advertisers, and staff for helping toproduce this special issue, which we hope will helpmark this important anniversary.

Finally, I would like to dedicate this magazine tothe memory of all those who have died on activeservice with the Defence Forces, at home andabroad. We will never forget.

Sgt David Nagle An Cosantóir

4

10

1215

18

25

32

34

38

454748

54

61

62

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p08-17) #35 24/06/2008 09:46

4 AN COSANTÓIR June 2008

It is a signal honour to congratu-late the Defence Forces on thefiftieth anniversary of their firstparticipation in a United

Nations peacekeeping mission.Ireland’s record of service inthese missions is second-to-none. The Defence Forces havemade, and continue to make, asignificant contribution to suchmissions throughout the world.

Since the first such mission in1958, Ireland has participatedcontinuously in United Nationsoperations, undertaking some59,000 individual tours of duty.This represents a major contribu-tion for a nation of our size, andhas been made possible only bythe willingness of our servicemenand women to respond so gener-ously to calls from the UnitedNations down the years.

From the Congo to Kosovo toLebanon to Liberia, the men andwomen of the Defence Forceshave never hesitated when thecall has come from some of theworld’s most dangerous conflict

zones. Wherever they have gone they have made a real and lasting con-tribution to the lives of imperilled communities.

Our serv e en d wome h e bro ght grea honour o Ire a d through eir pa ipa o inhese oper io s The r c mm ted d ded a ed

servi e ef e s we l o only on he De e e orcesb o he n tio s a whole They k ow bet er haanyone he dangers of his ork We re l whumble rati ude the 85 members o the Defe ceFor es ho have paid the ul a e pr ce s ppor of pe e Our hou h s d prayers a e always w hhe pe ekeepers who ever re rned, d with heir am ies

It is my privilege, as President, to pay tribute to the men and womenof our Defence Forces, and thank the individual servicemen and womenwho have served, together with their family and loved ones who bear thebrunt of their absence. Your courage, dedication and professionalism addimmeasurably to Ireland’s store. We are truly grateful.

Mary McAleesePresident of Ireland

Message from the President of IrelandMary McAleese

Message from the Minster for DefenceMr Willie O’Dea TD

The Defen e Fo es haveough g e t onou o

Ire d ough ep ti i a on n ea e

uppor ope a on .Howe e h par i tion

come a a h g p ce 85 membe o he De ence Fo ces have paidthe ulti ate ice n hecause o pe ce Outhou hts and p aye s a ew hose peace eepersand thei a i ie

5O YEARS OF PEACEKEEPING

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p01-11) 21/06/2008 10:29


throughout the world. On August 1st 2007, Ireland assumed the roleof Framework Nation for the Multinational Task Force Centre in theInternational Security Presence in Kosovo (KFOR) for a period of12 months. The appointment of Brigadier General Gerry Hegarty tocommand the Multinational Task Force Centre of KFOR (1,800troops from six nations) is an indication of the high standing of theIrish Defence Forces on the international scene. It is the first timethat Ireland has commanded a brigade-size force in a multinationalpeace support operation. Undertaking this responsibility is an indi-cation of both the experience of our troops in crisis managementoperations and the regard in which our international partners holdthem.

This year also sees the Defence Forces maintaining Ireland’slong and historic association with the African continent with thedeployment of a contingent of over 400 personnel to Chad. In addi-tion, the appointment in October 2007 of an Irish officer, Lt Gen PatNash, as EU Operational Commander of this EU-led UN-mandatedoperation in the Republic of Chad and the Central AfricanRepublic, known as EUFOR TCHAD/RCA, is recognition of the pro-fessional standing and experience of the Irish Defence Forces inthe field of peace support operations generally. In addition, ourinvestment, over the past 10 years, in equipment, training and infra-structure means that we now have the internal capacity to step upour game and undertake this most difficult of missions.

The new mission in Chad will be undertaking a vital task in pro-viding basic security for over 400,000 refugees, many fleeing theDarfur crisis, and will facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aidand the free movement of humanitarian personnel to these victimsof the Darfur atrocities. On my recent visit to meet our troops inChad there I saw the dangers our personnel face and the hardshipsthey endure as part of their mission. Óglaigh na hÉireann are mak-ing a vital and important contribution to bringing stability to a keyregion in Africa, as they have done in Liberia and Lebanon and onso many occasions in the past. They will be in my thoughts andprayers throughout the duration of their tour of duty in Chad.

While the larger missions in Chad, Lebanon, Ethiopia andEritrea and Kosovo grab much of the media attention, I would liketo pay particular tribute to the large number of personnel whoserve and have served in a multitude of other posts throughout theworld, as staff officers, advisers, military observers, monitors andexperts on missions in countries such as the Democratic Republicof the Congo, the Ivory Coast, Western Sahara and also in theMiddle East. These much unheralded activities of the DefenceForces are key enablers in supporting critical missions in often dif-ficult and personally challenging operations. They also enableIreland, despite limited resources, to contribute to a wider range ofimportant missions than might otherwise be the case and con-tribute in turn to Ireland’s standing on the international stage.

In conclusion, I want, on my own behalf and on behalf of theGovernment to thank all serving members of Óglaigh na hÉireannand Defence Force Veterans across the country, for their courageand commitment during the past 50 years. Their dedication andservice contributes in no small measure to the excellent reputationthat Ireland holds as a member of the international community andas a major contributor to international peace and security acrossthe globe.

Willie O’DeaMinister for Defence

This year is a special year in the history of Óglaigh na hÉireannin that it marks the 50th anniversary of Ireland’s first participa-tion in a United Nations peacekeeping mission. This historicanniversary is being celebrated with great pride in recognition

of the many tours of duty undertaken by generations of Irish ser-vicemen and women.

Participation in overseas peacekeeping missions is a key ele-ment of Ireland’s foreign policy and has been an important dimen-sion in meeting Ireland’s international obligations as a member ofthe UN and the EU. For over 50 years the United Nations has sym-bolized Ireland’s best hopes for a world at peace. I believe there isa simple reason for this commitment. The United Nations standsfor the rule of law, for social and political justice and for thepeaceful settlement of disputes.

These are important principles for us. They are at the heart ofour identity. For although we sometimes forget it, the highest hopeof the global community is to achieve what we in Ireland haveachieved for ourselves: a means of living together in peace andunderstanding.

Ireland’s Defence Forces have gained extensive experience inpeacekeeping over the years, and Ireland is regularly approachedas a source of peacekeeping personnel and expertise. Relative toour size and our available resources and capabilities, both finan-cial and military, Ireland is proportionately a very large peacekeep-ing contributor within the international community. Since 1958,Ireland has participated continuously in United Nations peace-keeping operations, a service which has comprised more than59,000 individual tours of duty.

Today’s inheritors of our proud tradition of peacekeeping areserving in UN mandated missions across the globe, from Chad tothe Middle East, Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan. The men andwomen of the Irish Defence Forces have never hesitated to deployinto some of the world’s most dangerous conflict zones. Whereverthey have gone with the United Nations in the cause of peace, theyhave made a real and lasting contribution to the lives of the localcommunities.

The Defence Forces have brought great honour on Irelandthrough their participation in peace support operations. However,this participation has come at a high price. 85 members of theDefence Forces have paid the ultimate price in the cause of peace.Our thoughts and prayers are with those peacekeepers and theirfamilies.

Over the past number of years, the nature of peacekeepingoperations has changed extensively, from traditional UN led “BlueHat” missions, to multifaceted regionally-led peace operations,with the onus being placed on regional states to organise andassemble peacekeeping troops for the purpose of discharging aUN Mandate. Within the European Union, the evolution of theEuropean Security and Defence Policy has placed greater respon-sibilities on individual Member States both collectively and indi-vidually to contribute personnel in support of UN Mandated crisismanagement operations. The development of European militarycapabilities is particularly important as we seek together to sup-port the Union in responding to the challenges of an increasinglymore globalised world and in supporting the United Nations.

The Defence Forces have shown the capacity and experienceto respond to the changing nature of peace support operations bymodernising and enhancing their capabilities, to be ideally placedto respond to the more complex and demanding peace support andcrisis management operations of today. We are currently contribut-ing 811 Defence Forces personnel to 17 different missions


00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p01-11) 21/06/2008 10:29

AN COSANTÓIR June 2008

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p01-11) 21/06/2008 10:22


It is with a great sense of pride that I pen thismessage for inclusion in the special edition ofAn Cosantóir to mark the 50th Anniversary ofthe Defence Forces involvement in United

Nations Peacekeeping Operations. We can all berightly proud of this magnificent record ofDefence Forces service under the Blue Flag ofthe United Nations, which is unbroken since1958.

On June 26th we will celebrate the 50thAnniversary throughout the Defence Forces withspecial commemorative events both at home andabroad. The highlight will be a parade in McKeeBarracks where we will be honoured by the pres-ence of An Taoiseach, Mr Brian Cowen TD andour Minister for Defence Mr Willie O’Dea TD

The significance of this Anniversary isdemonstrated by the decision of An Post tolaunch a special commemorative stamp duringthe ceremonies in McKee Barracks. It is appro-priate that the stamp will feature five of the orig-inal peacekeepers who served with that firstmission, The United Nations Observer Group inLebanon (UNOGIL).

It will be a privilege for me as Chief of Staff ofÓglaigh na hÉireann to meet seven of the nine

surviving members of this Mission on June 26th2008. The fifty officers who deployed were thepathfinders for the about 59,000 tours of duty thatwould follow UNOGIL, which was based on theSyrian-Lebanese Border to our most recent deploy-ment of the 97 Infantry Battalion to Chad earlierthis year. Tragically one of these officers ColonelJustin MacCarthy DSM would lose his life later in aroad traffic accident in the Congo having servednot only in UNOGIL but also as Deputy Chief ofStaff of The United Nations Truce SupervisionOrganisation (UNTSO).

The death of Colonel MacCarthy and 84 othermembers of the Defence Forces who died whileserving overseas is not forgotten and our thoughtswill be with their families on June 26th. Such sacri-fice is a constant reminder to us that service withthe Defence Forces in operations around the worldcan result in the paying of the ultimate sacrifice.

Our role as peacekeepers has been as varied asit has been challenging. From our initial role asunarmed Observers in 1958 we would rapidly becalled on to deploy Infantry Battalions andArmoured Groups for service in the Congo.Generations of soldiers would serve in areas ofoperation as diverse as the Sinai, East Timor,Somalia and Liberia. In 2008 we can deploy SpecialForces Units, Formation Headquarters, LogisticsUnits, Observers and Advisors in addition to ever-present Infantry Battalions to every continent.

The future development of the Defence Forces isintricately linked with United Nations mandatedOverseas Service. I call on serving members,including those Reservists who will deploy abroadin 2009 to match the example set by our comradesover the last fifty years. They have demonstratedcourage and integrity and served Ireland to thehighest standard.

I wish to express my thanks to all who served inevery mission we have undertaken in the past fiftyyears along with my good wishes to those servingpresently and to those who will serve in future.

Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil le gachbaill d'Óglaigh na hÉireanna rinne dualgas sna misinar fad ina raibh muid pairt iontú le caoga bliain anuasagus guím gach dea-ghuí orthú síud atá ar dualgasfaoi lathair agus a bheidh ar dualgas sa todhchaí.

Dermot EarleyLieutenant GeneralChief of Staff

Message from the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces Lt Gen Dermot Earley

The future developme o he Defence Forces is in icatel linked w h Un ed Nations m ndated Ove se s Se vice I call on se ving members inc udi gthose Reservis s who will deploy bro d in 009 to m chthe example set by our comr des over the las i ye sThe h ve demonstr ed cour ge a d i egrity and served Ireland to the h ghes s dard


00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p08-17) #35 24/06/2008 09:46


00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p01-11) 21/06/2008 10:22

OVER

VIE

W


The Irish Experience in Peacekeeping An OverviewBy Lt Col Kieran Brennan

June 1958 when the first group of officers went toLebanon as observers with United NationsObservation in Lebanon (UNOGIL). In the 50 yearssince then Irish military personnel have completed59,000 tours of duty mostly of six months duration.Over 40,000 tours of duty have been completed in threemajor force missions: ONUC in the Congo; UNIFIL inLebanon and UNFICYP in Cyprus. The Defence Forcesended its commitment to UNFICYP in May 2005, whenthe last Irish officer ended his tour of duty. The largesttroop-contributing mission the Irish Defence Forceshas been involved in to date was UNIFIL with over31,000 tours of duty completed since the missionbegan in 1978. Sadly this was not without cost as 46personnel lost their lives in the service of peace inLebanon. In 2001, 89 Inf Bn was the last Irish battalionto serve in UNIFIL. However, following a request fromthe UN in 2006 the Defence Forces sent two infantrygroups (34 and 36 Inf Gps) to Lebanon betweenOctober 2006 and October 2007 as part of the UN’sreinforcement of UNIFIL in the aftermath of that sum-mer’s conflict between the Israeli army and Hezbollah.

Today the Defence Forces continues to supply asmall group to UNIFIL HQ in Naquora.

In 1993 a major change occurred when the UNrequested Defence Forces’ participation in UNOSOM II.The decision to deploy two transport units to Somaliarequired the passing of special legislation in the Dáilto allow for participation in a mission with a mandatethat included peace-enforcement, as envisaged underChapter VII of the United Nations Chapter. The

Ireland has accorded central importance to theUnited Nations since it became a member in 1955,and within the UN system has supported effectiveinternational action in areas such as disarmament,

peacekeeping development and human rights. It hasbeen a strong defender of the primary role of theSecurity Council in the maintenance of internationalpeace and security.

In line with this approach, Ireland has taken seri-ously its obligation under the United NationsCharter to make available to the Security Councilarmed forces, assistance and facilities, in order tocontribute to the maintenance of international peaceand security. This is reflected in Ireland’s continuousinvolvement in peacekeeping operations mandatedor authorised by the United Nations SecurityCouncil, since 1958.

Ireland has a long and well-regarded history ofparticipation in overseas missions under UN man-dates. The Defence Forces, and in more recent yearsAn Garda Síochána, have gained extensive experi-ence in peacekeeping and have been regularlyapproached as a source of personnel. Relative to oursize and our available resources and capabilities,both financial and military, Ireland is proportionally avery large peacekeeping contributor within the inter-national community. The Defence Forces has alsopaid a price for our involvement with 85 of our troopslosing their lives while on overseas service.

The Defence Forces’ involvement in UnitedNations peacekeeping has been continuous since

Ireland has a long andwell-regarded history ofparticipation in over-seas missions under UNmandates. The DefenceForces, and in morerecent years An GardaSíochána, have gainedextensive experience inpeacekeeping and havebeen regularlyapproached as a sourceof personnel. Relativeto our size and ouravailable resources andcapabilities, both finan-cial and military,Ireland is proportionallya very large peacekeep-ing contributor withinthe international community.

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p01-11) 21/06/2008 10:35


Defence Forces’ experience prior to 1993 had been thedeployment of peacekeepers into Chapter VI situationswhere there was a peace agreement or truce, or one inthe process of being put in place; UNIFIL being a clas-sic case in point where peacekeepers served asbuffers between opposing forces, supporting disarma-ment and disengagement and reporting impartially onall activities within the area of operations.

With the increasing use of Chapter VII-type mis-sions, peacekeepers are likely to incur some level ofhostility, if not outright aggression, from one or morefactions to the conflict. These types of missionsrequire a much greater level of co-operation andinteroperability between the forces of contributingcountries to ensure that the overall force can operateas an effective combat unit in enforcing its mandate.This is particularly so in the case of Defence Forcespersonnel serving in KFOR, which is a UN-mandated,NATO-led mission. The Defence Forces have to datecontributed eight transport companies and teninfantry groups to this mission with 38 Inf Gp current-ly deployed since April 2008.

The APC companies of 27 and 28 Inf Gps wereunder the operational control of the Finn/Irish BattleGroup Commander, who was a Finnish officer. InNovember 2004, the APC Coy of 29 Inf Gp became amanoeuvre company of Multi-National Brigade Centre(MNB-C), again commanded by a Finnish Officer,while currently the APC company of 38 Inf Gp comesunder the command of Irishman Brig Gen GerryHegarty, who was appointed Commander Multi-National Taskforce Centre with KFOR in Kosovo inJune 2007. The operational control of Irish troops by anon-Irish commander was a new departure and todate the experience has been very positive.

Within KFOR Irish troops operate under robust

rules of engagement, with force protection, whichremains a major priority, being provided by MowagAPCs.

In more recent years the Defence Forces hasadopted a policy of sending peacekeeping forces toareas of conflict for a set period of time as distinctfrom giving an open-ended commitment, as was thecase with UNIFIL. In this respect we saw the DefenceForces serve with UNMEE, in Eritrea, from November2001 to June 2003, where a total of 630 tours of dutywere completed, and to UNTAET/UNMISET in EastTimor, from February 2000 to May 2004, with 271 toursof duty.

UNMIL in Liberia was the next focus for a largedeployment of our troops and this ended with 96 InfBn in May 2007. Again UNMIL was a peace-enforce-ment operation in which Irish troops contributedgreatly to stabilising the situation in that country.Their primary function was to act as the QuickReaction Force for the Force Commander, to deal withsituations as they arose. A feature of this deploymentwas the fact that a company of Swedish troops servedunder Irish command.

Traditionally, Irish troops serving overseashave provided humanitarian assistance tothe local population in areas that includethe provision of medical and dental care;restoration and repair of essential servic-es; rebuilding and repair of local churches,mosques and schools; and assistance tolocal enterprises.

In more recent yearsthe Defence Forces hasadopted a policy ofsending peacekeepingforces to areas of con-flict for a set period oftime as distinct fromgiving an open-endedcommitment, as wasthe case with UNIFIL.In this respect we sawthe Defence Forcesserve with UNMEE, inEritrea, fromNovember 2001 toJune 2003, where atotal of 630 tours ofduty were completed,and to UNTAET/UNMISET in East Timor,from February 2000 toMay 2004, with 271tours of duty.

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p01-11) 21/06/2008 10:22

and familiarisation of troops. This ensures that con-tingent personnel have a more complete under-standing of the mission’s mandate and their rolewithin it, and of the local operational environment,including social customs, culture, and ethnic groups.

The Defence Forces has shown it has the capacityand experience to respond to the changing nature ofpeacekeeping through its effective participation inthe UN-authorised, NATO/PfP-led KFOR, SFOR andISAF missions and the EU-led missions with EUFORin Congo (‘Artemis’) and now Chad. Ireland has alsocontinued to respond to UN requests forobservers/monitors to serve throughout the world’strouble spots.

Our long involvement in peacekeeping operationshas proven to be an excellent training ground, espe-cially for young soldiers and junior leaders. Carryingout difficult and dangerous tasks in hostile environ-ments far from home has helped develop the qualitiesof determination, comradeship, and professionalism,so necessary for the well being of the DefenceForces.

Over the years Irish officers have been appointedas force commanders with various UN missionsthroughout the world, while more have served insenior appointments, such as Brig Gen GerryHegarty, who was appointed Commander Multi-National Taskforce Centre with KFOR in Kosovo in2007, and Lt Gen Pat Nash who was appointedOperational Commander to EUFOR Chad.

Now as we move forward towards the seconddecade of the 21st Century the Defence Forces iswell positioned to continue its proud tradition ofpeacekeeping that has been built up over manyyears of dedicated service. The challenge for thefuture will be for all personnel to adapt to the changing world environment, and by so doing furtherembellish the proud record of the Irish DefenceForces’ involvement with the United Nations.■

In addition to peacekeeping deployments theDefence Forces has made a significant contributionto observer/monitoring missions throughout theworld, with its personnel being very well regarded inthis role. The UN attaches great importance to hav-ing experienced observers available at short noticeand the Defence Forces has generally been able torespond to requests as demand have arisen. Thedeployment of personnel on observer/monitoringmissions provides the Defence Forces with theopportunity to contribute to a wide number of mis-sions. The longest running observer mission theDefence Forces has been involved in is UNTSO,which began in 1958 and continues to this day.

The Defence Forces has also provided officers onsecondment to the UN Relief Works Agency(UNWRA) in the Middle East and to Goal, Concernand the ICRC in Somalia, Sudan, Angola andRwanda.

In 1999 and 2000, Defence Forces medical person-nel served with a small humanitarian group inHonduras after Hurricane Mitch and in September2005 four officers served with the Aceh MonitoringMission following the Tsunami in the Far East.

The Defence Forces has amassed a wide rangeof skills and experiences in peacekeeping since 1958and has always been keen to remain abreast ofdevelopments. In 1993, a school was established inthe Military College that became the United NationsTraining School Ireland (UNTSI) in November 1994.The principle aim of the school was to ensure thatDefence Forces training for peacekeeping would beof the highest standard in all aspects of today’scomplex peace-support operations. UNTSI drawson the exceptional range of experience gained byIrish peacekeeping soldiers on many missionsworldwide as it fulfils its roles, which include: con-ducting pre-deployment briefings for all overseasunits; conducting pre-deployment briefings andtraining of military observers, staff officers andNCOs; conducting international courses for militaryobservers, staff officers and military police; con-ducting other courses and seminars as directed;and developing peace-support operations (PSO)doctrine and training.

The constant evolution and changingnature of UN missions has ensured thatthe ‘lessons learned’ process is ongoingwithin the Defence Forces. All returningunits are debriefed and recommendationsfor change are considered and incorporat-ed into existing procedures/training. Inaddition the training/exercise programmeis constantly reviewed in the light ofinternational experience and doctrine toensure best practice prevails.

Among the lessons incorporated into theDefence Forces’ approach to mission planning is therequirement for rigorous pre-deployment reconnais-sance and preparation to ensure that the appropri-ate operational configuration is put in place in termsof armaments, force protection assets, organisation,logistics and support services. In addition, this typeof early planning supports, and provides valuableinput to, the development of pre-deployment training

OVER

VIE

W


00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p01-11) 21/06/2008 10:22


Current Missions (wef June 11th 2008)

e o e Pe e ee g O e o PersonnelUnited Nations Truce Supervision Organisation - UNTSO (Middle East) 12United Nations interim Force in Lebanon Headquarters – UNIFIL HQ 7United Nations New York - UNNY (United States of America) 1United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara - MINURSO 3United Nations Mission in Kosovo - UNMIK 4United Nation Observer Mission in Congo - MONUC 3Operation in Cote D’Ivoire - ONUCI (Ivory Coast) 2

o e U ed C s s e e O e sEuropean Union Military Staff – EUMS (Brussels and New York) 8 European Security and Defence Policy - ESDP (Brussels) 4European Union Force Operational Headquarters Chad - EUFOR OHQ Chad (France) 18European Union Force Headquarters Chad - EUFOR FHQ 1897 Infantry Battalion European Union Force Chad - 97 Inf Bn Inf Bn EUFOR 372European Union Nordic Battle Group – EU NBG (Sweden) 12European Union Force Bosnia Herzegovina – EUFOR BiH 46European Union in Support of Operation Althea – EU Sp Op Althea 1

e o Pe e d ce O e s38 Infantry Group Kosovo Force - 38 Inf Gp KFOR 212Kosovo Force Headquarters - KFOR HQ 11Partnership for Peace Headquarters - PfP HQ (Brussels) 3International Security Assistance Force Afghanistan - ISAF 7Kosovo Force Framework Nation Headquarters - KFOR FN HQ 61O g o o e Co o e o e ed O e oOrganisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe - OSCE (Austria) 6

Total 811

OVERSEAS

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p012-23) 24/06/2008 09:52

OVER

SEA

S


AS MISSIONS

Past MissionsUnited Nations Observation Group in Lebanon - UNOGIL (June to December 1958)Untied Nations Operation in Congo - ONUC (July 1960 to June 1964)United Nations Temporary Executive Authority - UNTEA (August to October 1962)United Nations Force in Cyprus - UNFICYP (March 1964 to May 2005)United Nations India-Pakistan Observation Mission - UNIPOM (September 1965 to March 1966)United Nations Emergency Force II - UNEF II (October 1973 to September 1974)United Nations Inspection Teams - UNIT (June 1984 to July 1988)United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan - UNMOGIP (September 1987 to June 1992)United Nations Relief Works Agency (February 1988 to June 1992) - UNRWA United Nations Good Offices Mission in Afghanistan and Pakistan (May 1988 to March 1990)United Nations Iran-Iraq Military Observer Group - UNIIMOG - (August 1988 to March 1991)United Nations Transition Assistance Group - UNTAG (March 1989 to April 1990)United Nations observer Group in America - ONUCA (December 1989 to January 1992)Office of the Secretary General in Afghanistan and Pakistan - OSGAP (March 1990 to December 1994)United Nations Angola Mission - UNAVEM II (July 1991 to September 1993)United Nations Advance Mission in Cambodia - UNAMIC (November 1991 to March 1992)United Nations Observer Mission in El Salvador - ONUSAL (January 1992 to May 1994) United Nations Military Liaison Office -Yugoslavia - UNMLO-Y (January to April 1992)United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia - UNTAC (March 1992 to November 1993)United Nations Protection Force - UNPROFOR (March 1992 to February 1996)United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission - UNIKOM (April 1992 to March 2003)United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Yugoslavia - UNHCR-Y (December 1992 to March 1993)United Nations Operation in Somalia II - UNOSOM II (August 1993 to January 1995)European Union National Election Unit in South Africa - EUNELSA (January to May 1994)Irish Rwandan Support Group - IRSG Rwanda (August to December 1994)United Nations Mission in Haiti - UNMIH (September 1994 to March 1996)Office of Secretary General in Afghanistan and Pakistan - OSGA (December 1994 to July 1996)United Nations Transitional Authority in Eastern Slovenia - UNTAES (February 1996 to January 1998)United Nations Military Observer mission Prevalka - UNMOP (February 1996 to December 1999)United Nations Preventative Deployments Force - UNPREDEP (February 1996 to February 1999)United Nations Special Missions in Afghanistan - UNSMA (July 1996 to October 1999)Stabilisation Force - SFOR (1997 to December 2004)United Nations Disengagement Observer Force - UNDOF (June 1997 to August 1998)United Nations Special Commission - UNSCOM (September 1997 to March 2003)1 Irish Honduras Support Group - IHSG Honduras (January to May 1999) United Nations Administration Mission in East Timor - UNAMET (June to October 1999)International Force East Timor - INTERFET (October 1999 to February 2000)2 Irish Honduras Support Group - 2 IISG Honduras (January to February 2000)United Nations Transitional Administration East Timor - UNTAET (February 2000 to May 2002) United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea - UNMEE (November 2001 to June 2003)United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor - UNMISET (May 2002 to May 2004)Interim Emergency Multi-National Force in Congo - ARTEMIS (July to September 2003)United Nations Mission in Liberia - UNMIL (November 2003 to June 2007)United Nations mission in Cote D’Ivoire - MINUCI (June 2003 to June 2004)African Union Mission in the Sudan - AMIS (July 2004)International Commission on Former Yugoslavia - ICFY (October 1994)United Nations Joint Logistic Centre - UNJLC (January to May 2005)Tsunami Disaster ACEH - (September 2005 to December 2006)European Union Force Democratic Repoblic Congo - EUFOR RD Congo (June 2006 to January 2007)

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p012-23) 21/06/2008 10:49


00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p012-23) 21/06/2008 10:49

Below right:On tarmac: Lt Col JustinMacCarthy (Plans& Ops AHQ).First step (l-r): Comdt MalachiHiggins (Air Corps) and CaptPat Lavelle (Cav Corps). Second Step: Comdt Gerard Coghlan(Corps of Engineers) and CaptRory Henderson (Inf E Comd).Photo courtesy of Mrs P Lavelle.

At about 6pm on June 23rd 1958 a coded cabledispatched from Ireland’s Permanent Missionto the United Nations in New York wasreceived in Dublin at the Headquarters of the

Department of Foreign Affairs. When decoded itread

MOST URGENT: SECRETARY GENERAL’SOFFICE HAS INQUIRED TODAY ON TELE -PHONE IF WE COULD URGENTLY PROVIDEFIVE OFFICERS OF, QUOTE, MAJOR ORCAPTAIN RANK, UNQUOTE, TO JOIN UNOBSERVATION TEAM IN LEBANON STOP WILLCABLE FURTHER DETAILS AFTER VISITHEADQUARTERS THIS AFTERNOON.

Further information was forwarded from NewYork, which added to the urgency of the occa-

UN

OGIL


Col R.E.M. Heaslip(Retd) explainsthe origins of ourinvolvement withthe UN asobservers and howone Irishman, LtCol JustinMacCarthy leadthe way for whatwas to become aparticipation inoverseas servicespanning the lastfifty years.

Ireland’s First UN Peacekeeper

sion stressing that the Irish officers wererequired to be in Beirut, Lebanon, on June 27th1958. At midday on June 24th the Government,through the Department of Foreign Affairs inIveagh House, responded:

PLEASE INFORM SECRETARY GENERALAGREEABLE IN PRINCIPLE, STOP. DETAILSBEING SETTLED AND WILL WIRE LATER,STOP. REQUEST NO PUBLICITY UNTILDETAILS SETTLED.

In effect Ireland and the Defence Forces werenow about to commit personnel to a UnitedNations military mission for the first time. All ofthis was taking place in the context of the UnitedNations being in its second decade, Ireland now amember since 1955, and the term ‘peacekeeping’

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p012-23) 21/06/2008 10:49


00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p012-23) 21/06/2008 10:49

monitoring the Arab /Israeli ceasefire lines.His superior in this organisation was UNTSO

Chief of Staff Maj Gen Von Horn, a SwedishOfficer destined eighteen months later, in July1960, to become the first Force Commander ofthe United Nations Force in the Congo (ONUC).General Von Horn was also impressed byMacCarthy’s performance of his duties asChairman of the Israel Egypt Mixed ArmisticeCommission, a difficult and demanding appointment.

When Von Horn became the ForceCommander in the Congo he quickly sought theIrish government’s approval for MacCarthy to betransferred from his duties with UNTSO to theCongo as his Chief of Staff in this unprecedentedmission. Unfortunately, after only a short time inthis mission, working round the clock to get thenew ONUC Headquarters Staff operational,MacCarthy was killed in a tragic car accident onOctober 27th 1960. His death was a very signifi-cant loss to ONUC HQ and Von Horn acknowl-edged it as such when he submitted a recommen-dation for the award of the Distinguished ServiceMedal in recognition of his contribution to estab-lishing ONUC HQ. The award was made posthu-mously by the Minister for Defence in May 1967.

Such was the story of the officer who was thepathfinder amongst the Defence Forces’ manypeacekeepers: serving with distinction in threesuccessive United Nations missions, UNOGIL,UNTSO and ONUC; first Irish officer to holdthree successive senior appointments on aninternational military staff at the headquarters ofthree different United Nations missions; promot-ed colonel on the strong recommendation of anon-national superior senior officer; and unfor-tunately the first, and most senior, DefenceForces officer fatality on overseas service.

The forgotten side of this story is that of hiswife Eileen and their eight-year-old son Justin,who had joined him in the Middle East when hetransferred to UNTSO. They were living inJerusalem when the news of his tragic death inthe Congo shattered their world forever. Whileher husband’s remains were brought on the longjourney home to Dublin for burial in the DefenceForces’ United Nations plot in Glasnevin, hiswidow and son were on their own in an interna-tional community far from home, in a foreigncountry without family, depending on new-foundfamily friends for support, and facing a long tor-turous journey home by ship.

When Eileen did get back to Ireland, sherelied heavily on the support of her husband’sfriends amongst his contemporaries while, in themain, her grief and that of her young son wentunnoticed in the national outpouring of grief thatengulfed the nation that November in 1960. Bythen the nation, so proud of its early peacekeep-ers, was mourning the dead of Niemba, killedjust ten days after Justin MacCarthy’s death.

Mrs MacCarthy and the others who lost lovedones need no reminding that peacekeepingcomes at a very costly price. Mrs MacCarthybore her personal burden until her death inOctober 1997. Her story is yet to be told.■

This article was written on behalf of The MilitaryHeritage Trust of Ireland. It is part of the ‘On Exhibit’series in An Cosantóir on aspects of the ‘Soldiers andChiefs’ exhibit in the National Museum of Ireland,Collins Bks.

was evolving to describe the range of armed andunarmed military missions and operations beingperformed under the aegis of the United Nations.

Without any precedent the Defence Forceshad less than seventy-two hours to identify,select and deploy five officer volunteers for sucha mission, designated United Nations ObserverGroup in Lebanon (UNOGIL). Correspondencefrom the Department of Foreign Affairs on file inthe National Archives shows that from the out-set the Defence Forces authorities, despite theUnited Nations request regarding ‘majors andcaptains’, were adamant that Ireland should con-tribute a lieutenant colonel in the group of offi-cers it intended to send.

The officer in question was LieutenantColonel Justin MacCarthy, then heading up thePlans and Operations Section in Defence ForcesHeadquarters. He was a very experienced officer;a graduate of the British Army’s Command andStaff Course in Camberley, England, who hadserved in command, staff and instructor appoint-

UN

OGIL


‘Cometh the hour,cometh the man,’ andas events would proveover the coming years,in Justin MacCarthy theDefence Forces had theright man in the rightplace at the right time,and made the rightdecision regarding hisselection to lead thisfirst deployment offive Irish officers on aUnited NationsMission.

ments in the Eastern Command, The MilitaryCollege, and Defence Forces Headquarters.Born and educated in England, he spoke Frenchand was married with one son.

‘Cometh the hour, cometh the man,’ and asevents would prove over the coming years, inJustin MacCarthy the Defence Forces had theright man in the right place at the right time, andmade the right decision regarding his selectionto lead this first deployment of five Irish officerson a United Nations Mission. A photograph oftheir departure for the Lebanon is on display inthe Soldiers and Chiefs exhibition at theNational Museum, Collins Barracks, Dublin andon a commemorative stamp issued by An Post.

MacCarthy’s group flew to Beirut and fromthere dispersed to different UNOGIL duty sta-tions, to be joined by other Irish officers over thecoming months, making a total of fifty Irish offi-cers to serve in UNOGIL. MacCarthy himselfserved at UNOGIL HQ where within five weeksof his arrival he was recommended for promotionto full colonel and selected for the prestigioussenior appointment of Deputy Chief of Staff. Heheld this appointment until the UNOGIL missionwas wound up in December 1958.

The manner in which he had performed hisduties in a complex international military head-quarters staff obviously impressed his interna-tional superiors and he and Capt Pat Jordanwere head-hunted to continue their UnitedNations’ service by transferring to UnitedNations Truce Supervision Organisation(UNTSO), then, as now, engaged since 1948

…working round theclock to get the newONUC HeadquartersStaff operational,MacCarthy was killedin a tragic car acci-dent on October 27th1960. His death was avery significant lossto ONUC HQ and VonHorn acknowledged itas such when he sub-mitted a recommen-dation for the awardof the DistinguishedService Medal inrecognition of hiscontribution to establishing ONUC HQ.

Capt Pat Lavelle and a Indianofficer with Lebanese fighters.

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p012-23) 21/06/2008 10:49

unarmed military observers who’s duties involved: con-ducting patrols, by road and air, of border areas adja-cent to the zones held by the opposing forces; manningobservation posts to monitor and report infiltration orany suspicious developments in their areas; and evalu-ating and co-ordinating all information received at HQUNOGIL from UNMOs and other sources.

The UN request for Ireland to participate in the mis-sion came on June 23rd. Though only a member of theUN since 1955, the government had already consideredparticipation in earlier UN missions and had made thenecessary amendments to the Defence Act to allow forsuch an eventuality. So, when the decision to accedeto the request was given, the Defence Forces wasready and Army Headquarters quickly short-listed apanel of 12 officers. From these, the original five wereselected, though all on the list volunteered. Over thenext two days the chosen officers were subjected tohastily organised medicals, briefs, and a farewellreception with President Eamon de Valera.

In 1958 the prospect of serving outside Ireland wascompletely alien to anyone in the Defence Forces.Military service in Ireland at that time was monoto-nous and the only escape from mundane barracks lifewas a day on the ranges or annual camp. The DefenceForces was operating on a shoestring, with little or noinvestment on equipment. Therefore, the opportunityto serve overseas, to travel and see places in the


On June 27th 1958, five Irish army officers (Lt ColJustin MacCarthy, Comdts Malachi Higgins andGerry Coghlan, and Capts Patrick Lavelle andRory Henderson) boarded a flight from Dublin to

London to catch a connecting flight on to Beirut. Theywere the first of a group of 50 officers who wouldeventually served as United Nations MilitaryObservers (UNMOs) with the United NationsObservation Group in Lebanon (UNOGIL).

In 1958 Lebanon had a population of 1.3m, with amixture of Christians, Muslims (Sunnites andShiites) and Druse. By agreement the President wasa Christian, the Premier was Sunnite Muslim and theSpeaker of the Parliament was Shiite Muslim.Following President Chamoun’s election to serveanother term, a National Front was formed by thosewho refused to recognise his re-election. Anti-gov-ernment enclaves sprang up throughout Lebanon andinsurgents took control of large parts of its borderwith Syria. The government declared a state of emer-gency and the army sealed off dissident areas.

This escalation of the crisis in Lebanon along withpressures from outside powers led to serious instabili-ty and the Lebanese government complained to theUnited Nations of the infiltration of arms and ammuni-tion across the Syrian border. In response, the UNSecurity Council passed a resolution on June 11th,which established the UNOGIL mission, comprising

1958J e 23 – UN formally

requests Ireland to participatein the UNOGIL mission.

J 2 – Initial party of fiveofficers departs for Lebanon.

J – Coup in Iraq causesfurther unease in the MiddleEast.

e be 9 h – Last Irish offi-cers leave the UNOGIL mis-sion; two Irish officers com-mence service with UNTSO .

1959J 8 h – Gen Charles de

Gaulle becomes President ofFrance.

Feb – Fidel Castrobecomes Cuban PrimeMinister.

e 25 – Eamon DeValerabecomes President of Ireland.

O o e – FCÁ integration.e embe – ArchbishopMakarios elected President offuture Cyprus Republic.

1960J – Maj Gen Seán

McKeown appointed Chief ofStaff of the Defence Forces.

Ap i – An Taoiseach, MrLemass, presents UN medalsto UNOGIL veterans.

J e 0 – Congo gains inde-pendence; violence eruptswithin days. The newly-formed Congolese govern-ment requests UN assistance.

J 9t – Irish Governmentrespond positively to UNrequest and decides to send abattalion to ONUC.

J 2 – 32 Inf Bn paradethrough Dublin before airliftfrom Baldonnel.

A g 6 – Following UNrequest for more troopsIreland dispatches 33 Inf Bn tothe Congo.

O o e – Coy Sgt FelixGrant becomes Ireland’s firstUN casualty.

Oc be 2 – Col JustinMacCarthy dies on activeservice in the Congo.

No e be – Nine Irish sol-diers killed in NiembaAmbush.

No e be 0 – Pte PatrickDavis dies while serving withONUC.o e e 22 d – National dayof mourning as the Niembadead are buried.

e be 2 – Cpl LiamKelly dies while serving withONUC.

Photographs in this sectioncourtesy of the Air CorpsMuseum and CQ Jim Clarke(Retd) and Sgt John Gorman(Retd).

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p012-23) 21/06/2008 10:50


00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p24-33) 21/06/2008 11:18 Page 24

working on bilateral trade and multi-lateral tradepolicy, and then found myself recommended by theDepartment to fill a Political Officer slot in theCabinet of the Secretary General of the UnitedNations in New York. I spent nine very formativeyears on the Secretary-General’s private staff deal-ing with a series of conflict files, which included theIran and Iraq ceasefire negotiations, Namibian inde-pendence negotiations, resolution of the situation inCambodia, and the dissolution of the formerYugoslavia. At that point, in 1991/1992, I acted asSpecial Assistant to Cyrus Vance, a former USSecretary of State. Vance was, UN Envoy for formerYugoslavia. He was a principled and honourableman. At 73 years of age, he set a tremendous profes-sional example to everybody around him and it was aprivilege to work with him as much as it had been towork with the Secretary-General. I can recall a greatnumber of tough, intimate, small circle discussionsover many months with all of the main protagonistsinvolved in the break-up of the former Yugoslavia.After that I went as Senior Advisor to the UN Forcein Cyprus. I served simultaneously as Number 2 tothe UN Special Representative who was responsiblefor leading the political negotiation towards a solu-tion to the Cyprus problem. So I was a kind of bridgebetween the peace making and peace keeping sides.I spent four very illuminating years in Nicosia andwas able to interface closely with various UNMissions in the Middle East. After that I went toTokyo where I headed the UN Office in Japan fortwo years before returning to national service with

UN

HQ


An Cosantóirr: Could give a summary of yourown professional background and previous diplo-matic postings?

Ambassador Kavanagh: Tell me if I amgoing into too much detail. I began my public serv-ice career in the Department of Defence in Dublinas an Executive Officer in 1977, having graduatedfrom UCD with a degree in Modern History andFrench. A few months later I was recruited to theDepartment of Foreign Affairs and I worked there onthe economic side before moving to China where Ispent two and a half years as Secretary of theEmbassy. I returned to Dublin in 1982, spent a year

Working in United NationsHeadquarters

In March, Lt Col Brendan O’Shea(working for An Cosantóir) got anopportunity to interview Ireland’sAmbassador to the UnitedNations, Ambassador PaulKavanagh at the United NationsHeadquarters, New York about hiscareer and some of the challengesfacing the UN and Ireland…

Ambassador Kavanagh presenting hiscredentials to Sec Gen Ban Ki Moon.

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p24-33) 24/06/2008 09:57 Page 25


00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p24-33) 21/06/2008 11:18 Page 26

Working inthe UnitedNationsHeadquarters

the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin. All told,I had spent almost a decade and a half on second-ment to the United Nations. I then worked for twoyears on Ireland’s bid to secure membership of theSecurity Council. With the successful outcome ofthat bid, I was sent as Coordinator of the Delegationhere in New York on the Security Council beforereturning to Dublin for the Presidency of theEuropean Union. In 2004, I moved on to Brussels asAmbassador to the EU’s Political and SecurityCommittee, then to Geneva as Ambassador to theUN Offices and the WTO and finally back here toNew York as Irish Ambassador to UN Headquarters.

An Cosantóir: What would you regard as yourbiggest challenge today specifically in relation toIreland’s membership of the UN and where the UNas an organisation is going?

Ambassador Kavanagh: The biggestchallenge for any Irish Ambassador to the UnitedNations is to translate into daily business thestrength of the Government’s commitment to theUnited Nations and to its work right across the spec-trum in the areas of peace and security, developmentand humanitarian affairs, human rights, disarmamentand UN reform. That commitment has been shared bysuccessive Irish Governments across the decades. Itreflects the will of the Oireachtas and of public opin-ion in Ireland. So it’s quite a challenge, as it is a privi-lege, to be the everyday face and voice of Ireland atUN Headquarters and to be responsible on theground here for the conduct of Ireland’s businesswith the world organisation.

Just like his predecessor, the Taoiseach knowsthe United Nations well. He was responsible for thesuccessful campaign that secured Ireland’s elec-tion to the Security Council in 2000 and for the con-duct of Ireland’s tenure on the Council in 2001-2002,during which time he personally chaired theCouncil’s proceedings. He has been directlyinvolved in the huge upgrading of Ireland’s over-seas aid commitments – which have given Ireland a

UN

HQ


very positive profile here at the United Nations.Ministers Martin and Power are of course deeply

engaged in giving direction to Ireland’s relationswith the entire UN System, which extends not onlyto New York, but also to Geneva, Vienna and rightaround the world.

The specific challenge which falls to me personal-ly is the Co-Chairmanship of an important dimensionof the UN Reform process, that is the GeneralAssembly’s work on System Wide Coherence. Thisdeals principally but not uniquely with the develop-ment side of the house. I won’t go into extreme detailbut the bottom line is that we are trying to get the UNfamily of agencies and frontline programmes in thefield, in developing countries to work more coherentlyand therefore more effectively in getting developmentassistance to peoples in need. We are getting goodfeedback in the experimental pilot countries, whichare leading this more coherent approach.

However, change doesn’t come easily, especiallyto international bureaucracies and indeed also toStates. And so, my Tanzanian colleague and I havebeen appointed by the President of the GeneralAssembly to facilitate the process with all UNMember States and other interested parties. Ouraim is to achieve practical progress on the groundand to overcome previous “parliamentary” deadlockin the General Assembly. Coherence for its ownsake is not the objective. Rather, the aim is toensure that aid is delivered properly and promptly tothe men, women and children who need it most.

So those are the twin challenges - one is over-arching and a constant feature for any IrishAmbassador here - while the other derives from aparticular Chairmanship role in 2008.

An Cosantóir: Has Ireland any plans to cam-paign for another term on the Security Council inthe near future?

Ambassador Kavanagh: Ireland attachesgreat importance to the role of the Security Council.It is at the centre of our concept of legitimacy in

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p24-33) 21/06/2008 11:18 Page 27


00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p24-33) 21/06/2008 11:18 Page 28


Ambassador Kavanagh: Well, the provisions for membership of the Security Councilare contained in the Charter so there are Charterimplications for change in the size of the Council. Itwas already changed in the mid-60s to increase thenumber of membership from 11 to 15, so change is possible.

In general terms, I would say that the Charter isnot a frozen, lifeless document. In fact, the remark-able thing about it is that it has served so well, thatit has proved so adaptable. For example one of theaspects of UN business with which people are mostfamiliar is peacekeeping. Peacekeeping, however, isnot mentioned in the Charter. It was a practicalinvention in the late 1940s and grew decisively as aconcept only in the mid-1950s. If you look back toUNEF 1 after the Suez War in 1956, that was aninvention of creative and dedicated people fromthen Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld to rep-resentatives of member States. Prominent amongthem was Lester Pearson in Canada who helped todevise and deploy a whole new concept, a role forthe UN, which was not foreseen in the Charter. Andso the flexibility of the Charter is quite wide. Itallows innovation if there is a political consensusbehind it.

A second example is the role of the Secretary-General. If you look at the chapter of the UN Charterdealing with the role of the Secretary-General, prac-tically all of the political and diplomatic authorityand the large role and presence on the world stagethat is associated with the office flows improbablyfrom two short and very general articles. The firstsimply asks the Secretary- General to report annual-ly on the work of the Organisation, the entire work ofthe Organisation including international peace andsecurity. But to carry out this task, the Secretary-General has to have the means to do it. He needs tohave machinery at his disposal and he needs to be aplayer on the international stage. Also, underArticle 99, the Secretary-General - and this was achange from the League of Nations - is specificallyauthorised to bring any matter relating to interna-tional peace and security to the attention of theSecurity Council. For that role to be filled, theSecretary-General clearly has to have the appropri-ate means at his disposal, including political capa-bility and the expertise within the Secretariat.

And so, putting these slim articles of the Chartertogether with Chapter VI on the PeacefulSettlement of Disputes, it was Dag Hammarskjöldin the first place who actually led the expansion defacto of the role of the Secretary-General. The verybig presence on the world stage to which we havebecome accustomed over the decades is thereforenot provided for expressly in the Charter at all. Itgrew incrementally over long years of practice. Infact the first Secretary General Trigvie Lie wasappointed to the post as a compensation for nothaving managed to secure the appointment asPresident of the General Assembly - which at thattime was viewed as a much more important post.

So the point I’m making is that to some extent,yes, there is a need to amend the Charter if you wantto do specific things but on the other hand theCharter has shown over its life that it is quite a flex-ible and fluid instrument that can allow the memberStates to do things in practice if there is a consen-sus to do them.

As regards wholesale change or amendment ofthe Charter I don’t see that as politically feasible. I

terms of maintenance of international peace andsecurity. It is extremely important from our point ofview that there is a regular rotation of a variety ofcountries, including smaller countries, through thenon-permanent seats on the Council. Typically wehave been there every twenty years - we were there in1961 (we split the two-year term at that time); wewere there again in 1981/82; and once more in 2001/02.We have already declared a candidacy for 2020 andso we are anticipating a drive on our part to go backonto the Council at that time. It is very importantfrom Ireland’s point of view that debate and delibera-tion within the Security Council receives a regulartransfusion of fresh blood so to speak and for theCouncil to remain mindful of the priorities of thebroad membership of the UN. So yes, we do antici-pate going back in, and specifically for the two-yearterm, 2021-2022.

An Cosantóir: The obvious next questionthen must be about the structure of the SecurityCouncil and whether there is any prospect of reformin terms of a restructuring and maybe increasing thenumber of permanent seats?

Ambassador Kavanagh: It’s a very timelyquestion. The broad UN membership has not made agreat deal of progress on it, despite intensive discus-sion for over a decade and a half. This may beexplained by the extent of the power and authority – upto the use of coercive force – that the UN Charter con-fers on the Council. There is a lot at stake here, interms of the vital interest of countries, large and small.

Essentially, there are two issues; first, the compo-sition of the Council, both in terms of both perma-nent and non-permanent seats, including implica-tions for the veto power, and secondly, the workingmethods of the Council.

When it comes to the working methods, I think itis a question of making the work of the Council moreopen, more transparent, more inclusive of the non-members, more inclusive of those countries that areimplicated and affected by the decisions of theCouncil.

Do I expect progress this year? As for the com-position of the Council, there is general agreementthat the Council needs to be made more represen-tative of the modern world. Except for an increasein the number of non-permanent members in the1960s, the Council’s make-up has remainedunchanged since the end of World War II. How toachieve this is problematic. Competing nationalinterests are at play. Last year, it looked as ifprogress might be made on the basis of a proposedinterim arrangement which would be reviewed aftera number of years. At the same time, the newPresident of the General Assembly is trying tomove matters forward into formal, inter-govern-mental negotiations. Experience would guard oneagainst being overly optimistic. And yet the needfor progress remains pressing. The political legiti-macy of the Council in the eyes of many needs to beenhanced by making the body more reflective of themodern world.

An Cosantóir: Some people would argue thatthe Charter is an historical document written in adifferent political and socio-economic timeframeand in many respects is no longer relevant. Thiswould then beg the obvious question whether is ittime to re-write the Charter?

UN

HQ


00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p24-33) 21/06/2008 11:18 Page 29

world people only saw on the big screen, was achance in a lifetime.

The concept of peacekeeping was not only new tothe Defence Forces it was still new to the UN. Bornfrom the ashes of WWII, the UN was struggling toextinguish flare-ups as and when they arose, espe-cially between allies of the Cold War adversaries, theUSSR and the US.

The term ‘peacekeeping’, which was not in the UNCharter, was coined by Secretary-GeneralHammarskjold (shown left) and he said it belonged to“Chapter Six-and-a-Half’ of the Charter. In doing thishe was placing it somewhere between Chapter VI(which describes the method of resolving disputespeacefully, through negotiation and mediation) andChapter VII (which involves the use of force).

Peacekeeping was seen as a low-level conflict res-olution mechanism, which if employed early or beforea conflict started could enable warring parties to findpeace. For Ireland, which was neutral and non-aligned, this method of military participation was feltto be a worthy cause to be involved in.

On arrival in Beirut the small Irish party quicklysettled into their new role, taking up various appoint-ments at HQ UNOGIL, Beirut, and in the five out-sta-tions with headquarters located in Tripoli, Saida,Marajayoun, Chatura and Baalbek.

The situation in Lebanon and the region worsenedfurther following a coup in Iraq. US marines landednear Beirut following a Lebanese government requestand Jordan requested a similar protection force fromthe UK.

Meanwhile, the staff at HQ UNOGIL continued toestablish the mission, and the senior Irish officer, LtCol MacCarthy, played a key role. On the request ofUNOGIL’s Norwegian commander, Maj Gen Odd Bull,MacCarthy was promoted to colonel and made hisdeputy. This appointment was an endorsement of ColMacCarthy’s professionalism and ability, especially indealing with the complex issues at HQ UNOGIL. Hewas also a fluent French speaker, a graduate of theBritish Army’s Staff School and had held key posi-tions in the army in Ireland.

The remaining 45 Irish officers were fully deployedby October, serving in the five out-stations and con-ducting unarmed patrols in white UN vehicles. TheUNMOs had a dual role of monitoring the situationand exerting a calming influence on the Lebanesepeople.

Each out-station had between five to ten officersof different nationalities. Though the Irish lackedappropriate equipment and clothing and lived on adaily allowance of $10 to $12 a day, they made up forthese limitations by their training and professional-ism. When given leave many toured the numeroussites of the Holy Land and Lebanon.

In September the former Lebanese ArmyCommander, General Chehab became President andtried to bring the warring factions together. As no evi-dences of arms coming across the Syrian border wasfound, the UNOGIL mission was wound up at thesame time as the US and British forces also withdrewfrom the region.

For the Defence Forces UNOGIL had proved aninvaluable first testing ground. It demonstrated thatour military training at home, though not designed for


Peacekeeping was seenas a low-level conflictresolution mechanism,which if employed earlyor before a conflictstarted could enablewarring parties to findpeace.

1958 T

O 1

968

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p012-23) 21/06/2008 10:50 Page 19

the state’s institutions; an army that had mutinied;the province of Katanga, which had declared itselfindependent under Moise Tshombe; and large num-bers of Belgian troops and mercenaries operating inthe country.

Within a matter of days, the 689-strong 32 Inf Bn,under the command of Lt Col MJ Buckley, was formed,with an advance party deployed to Leopoldville.Following the selection of volunteers from all over theDefence Forces, the battalion formed up in theCurragh Camp for processing, medicals and inocula-tions. The Curragh Camp Ladies Committee present-ed a flag to the battalion, from a design by Lt Col PDKavanagh. The battalion’s officers met PresidentDeValera in Áras an Uachtaráin and on the July 27th,following a parade past the GPO as thousands lookedon, the battalion moved to Baldonnel for the airlift.There An Taoiseach, Seán Lemass TD, took the saluteand Archbishop McQuaid blessed the departingtroops, who were dressed in bull’s-wool uniforms,wearing ‘38 pattern webbing, and carried .303 Lee-Enfield rifles, Carl Gustav sub-machine guns and Brenmachine guns.

The USAF supplied 13 transport aircraft for theairlift, each of which was capable of taking 60 troopsand 8,000lbs of stores on the 40-hour flight. Refuellingstops were made in France, Libya, Nigeria, andLeopoldville in the Congo before eventually landing atGoma, in Kivu Province where the battalion was to bebased initially.

By August 3rd the entire battalion was deployed,with Battalion HQ and C Coy based in Goma; A Coy120 miles away in Bukauv; and B Coy in Kindu.

Such was the media interest in Ireland that agroup of Irish journalists based themselves in Gomato report home.

As 32 Inf Bn was being flown out the UN was ask-ing the Irish government for a second battalion. Thegovernment acceded to this further request and the702-strong 33 Inf Bn, under Lt Col RW Bunworth, wasraised and sent to the Congo on August 17th. Onarrival the new battalion deployed to Kamina,Manono, Albertville and Niemba. Also a smallBrigade HQ (9 Ir Bde), commanded by Col Harry


overseas service, equipped our observers with the mil-itary skills necessary to allow them to participate fullyin UN deployments. It also showed that the DefenceForces could provide personnel for overseas service atshort notice.

Ireland’s decision to embrace the peacekeepingconcept led to the opportunity and tradition of volun-teering for overseas service that became an importanttool in recruitment and the rejuvenation of theDefence Forces, and within two years officers who hadserved with UNOGIL would train, staff and commandour first major troop mission, to the Congo.

By mid-December 1958, all but two of the Irish con-tingent returned to Ireland. On request from the UN,Col MacCarthy and Capt Patrick Jordan were deployedto the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation(UNTSO) mission, which had been established in 1948following the cessation of hostilities in Palestine as aresult of a truce between Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanonand Israel . Its mandate was: ‘To observe and maintainany truce or ceasefire demanded by the SecurityCouncil and to assist the parties in supervising anyagreements concluded by them.’

Maj Gen Carl von Horn (Commander UNTSO)appointed Col MacCarthy as chair of the MixedArmistice Committee, whose job was to resolve dis-putes between Israel and Egypt.

Capt Jordan served at HQ UNTSO in Jerusalemand Damascus, while Col MacCarthy work in the Sinai,and both received an extension to serve another yearwith UNTSO. Irish officers continued to serve withUNTSO throughout 1959, with the added bonus ofbeing able to bring their families with them.

Then, in July 1960 violence erupted in the newRepublic of Congo. The Irish government quicklyacceded to a UN request to send a lightly armedinfantry battalion to the newly established Opérationsdes Nations Unies au Congo (ONUC).

In the Congo, which was 20 times the size of Irelandwith a population of 14 million people, the new primeminister, Patrice Lumumba, was trying to stop the con-flict that had broken out between many internal fac-tions. He also had to deal with a lack of key people in

1961 – Lt Gen Seán

McKeown appointed ONUCForce Commander; Maj Gen SColins-Powell appointed Chiefof Staff of the Defence Forces.

M – Dr Conor CruiseO’Brien appointed as UNSpecial Representative toKatanga; resigns in December.

Ap 2 – An Taoiseach MrLemass presents UN medals to32 Inf Bn.

g – Irish troops takepart in Operation ‘Rumpunch‘to neutralise the white leader-ship of the Katangan military.

0 – Cpl Luke Kellydies while serving with ONUC.

Se e e – Tpr Edwarddies while serving with ONUC.

Se r 15 – Tpr PatrickMullins and Cpl Michael Nolandie while serving with ONUC.

te e 7 – UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjolddies in air crash in the Congo.Succeeded by U Thant onNovember 3rd.

Se e be – A Coy, 35 InfBn, taken prisoner at Jadotvilleafter running out of food andammunition following five daysof fighting.

Oc ber 25 – A Coy, 35 Inf Bn,released after prisonerexchange.

N ve ber – President deValera unveils a plaque to ourUN dead in Arbour Hill. AnTaoiseach Mr Lemass presentsthe Military Medal for Gallantryto Mr John Browne, father ofTpr Anthony Browne, killed fol-lowing the Niemba Ambush.e e be t – Cpl MichaelFallon dies while serving withONUC.

De em e – Sgt PatrickMulcahy, Lt Patrick Riordan andPte Andrew Wickham die whileserving with ONUC.

De em er 2 – Cpl JohnGeoghegan dies while servingwith ONUC.e e ber t – RTÉ com-mences television broadcasts.

1962e – USSR freesCapt Francis ‘Gary’ Power, pilotof US spy plane shot down overSoviet Union in 1960.

M – Cpl John Powerdies while serving with ONUC.

A – Lt Gen Seán McKeownreturns from ONUC and is re-appointed Chief of Staff.

M – Capt Ronald McCanndies while serving with ONUC.

A – Marilyn Monroefound dead in her home in LosAngeles.

2 – Two Irish officersserving with 37 Inf Bn ONUCdispatched to serve withUNTEA until October.

Oc ob r 2 – Cuban MissileCrisis ends.

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p012-23) 21/06/2008 10:50 Page 20

Byrne, was sent out to Elizabethville.The UN had used experienced officers from

UNTSO to assist in the initial set up of ONUC; MajGen Von Horn was appointed Force Commanderwith Col MacCarthy as his Chief of Staff at ForceHQ in Leopoldville.

The main tasks carried out by the Irish troopsincluded control of local airports; patrols to makecontact with the national army and police to encour-age them to return to work and surrender their arms;and rescuing missionaries and Belgian nationals.The Irish quickly became proficient at resolvinglocal issues calmly and carrying out essential main-tenance work (water, electricity and telephonereconnection), which all helped to bring a sense ofnormality. These were no mean tasks for a contin-gent poorly equipped, in terms of clothing, communi-cations and transport, for operations in a tropical cli-mate, thousands of miles from home.

More importantly, the wearing of UN blue helmetsand armbands had an immense impact. They enabledmuch more to be done in many circumstances thancould of been possible with merely a show of armedstrength.

By November, 32 Inf Bn handed over control oftheir area of operation to a Nigerian Battalion andmoved to Elizabethville in the disputed KatangaProvince. Here their duties included guarding trainsand more military-type duties. C Coy, along with acompany from 33 Inf Bn and a Swedish Coy, weredeployed to secure the Kamina airfield.

Ireland suffered its first UN casualties when CoySgt Felix Grant (33 Inf Bn) died on October 3rd andCol Justin MacCarthy died on October 27th followinga road traffic accident. Col MacCarthy, a veteran ofUNOGIL, UNTSO and ONUC, had played a key partin all three of Ireland‘s first steps on UN service.Such was the regard in which he was held that MajGen Von Horn requested that he should be posthu-mously awarded the distinguish service medal(DSM).

These deaths were overshadowed by the NiembaAmbush on November 8th, when an 11-man Irishpatrol was attacked by Baluba tribesmen whilechecking a bridge near the village of Niemba. After avaliant fight against overwhelming numbers, eightmembers of the patrol died after being shot witharrows or being bludgeoned to death. Tpr AnthonyBrowne and Ptes Tom Kenny and Joe Fitzpatrick sur-vived the initial attack. Ptes Kenny and Fitzpatrickescaped but Tpr Anthony Browne was killed subse-quently and his body was not found until November1962. For his bravery during the ambush, Tpr Brownewas posthumously awarded the military medal ofgallantry (MMG).

The Niemba Ambush was a reality check for theDefence Forces and Ireland. The dead Irish peace-keepers, including Pte Patrick Davis, who died onNovember 10th, were given a state funeral whereover a half-a-million people turned out in Dublin asthe funeral cortege made its way through the capitalto Glasnevin cemetery.

In January 1961, both 32 and 33 Inf Bns werereplaced by 34 Inf Bn, armed with the new 7.62mm FNRifle. Ireland also provided an armoured infantry


1963 2 – Cpl John McGrath

dies while serving with ONUC. 2 – Organisation of

African Unity formed to endwhite rule on the continent.

e 6 – Russian Lt ValentinaTereshkova becomes firstwoman in space.

e 26 – US President John FKennedy praises our UN peace-keepers during his visit toIreland ep e be 28 – Comdt ThomasMcMahon dies while servingwith ONUC.o e be 22 – President JohnF Kennedy assassinated inDallas, Texas.

No e be – Irish Army cadethonour guard attends PresidentKennedy’s funeral.

…an 11-man Irishpatrol was attackedby Baluba tribesmenwhile checking abridge near the vil-lage of Niemba. Aftera valiant fightagainst overwhelm-ing numbers, eightmembers of thepatrol died afterbeing shot witharrows or beingbludgeoned to death.

1958 T

O 1

968

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p012-23) 21/06/2008 10:50 Page 21

observers arranged local agreements between con-flicting parties and oversaw repatriations. The Irishcommitment to the mission ended on October 4th.

By November 1962 2 Armd Car Sqdn and 38 Inf Bnhad deployed to the Congo and took part in Operation‘Grand Slam’, a final push by ONUC to end theKatangan secession. The Irish took charge of 12 newFerret armoured scout cars and, for a time, its troop-ers also drove M113s and Swedish armoured person-nel carriers.

Though the situation in the Congo was unresolvedthe UN considered military operations were no longera necessity.

In 1963 Ireland sent 3 Armd Car Sqdn and 39 Inf Bnin April with the final Irish unit to serve in the Congo,2 Inf Gp, deploying in November.

In March 1964, as the Defence Forces prepared towithdraw its last Congo contingent, another UNrequest came for troops to participate in the newUnited Nations Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).

The background to the Cyprus conflict is compli-cated but stems mainly from divisions between theisland's Greek and Turkish communities. Cyprus wasbeset by problems since gaining independence in1960, mainly caused by Greek Cypriot dissatisfactionwith the constitution, which they felt gave the Turkishcommunity disproportionate representation. Whenattempts were made to amend the constitution thetwo communities began to prepare for conflict.Assistance was requested from the UN and this ledto the establishment of UNFICYP.

The mission had three main aims: to prevent therecurrence of fighting; to help maintain law and order;and to contribute to the restoration of normal condi-tions. The deployment of UN troops in potential trou-ble spots quickly managed to achieve the mission'sfirst aim.

Following the Secretary General U Thant’s request,the Irish Government agreed to participate and the701-strong 40 Inf Bn was established with Lt Col PBarry in command.

Like the ONUC airlifts, the USAF assisted in themove from Dublin to Nicosia via Rome. The Irishquickly settled into their new role as peacekeepers,conducting foot and mobile patrols (in their new AMLArmoured Cars) of the Famagusta district. With nearlyfour years of peacekeeping, and some peace-enforc-ing, experience, the Irish soon adapted to their role.

In August, the UN requested additional Irishtroops and 3 Inf Gp (399-strong) deployed to theLarnaca and Paphos districts.

As UNFICYP established itself, it allowed theGreek and Turkish islanders to continue to live a nor-mal existence.

Though there was no open conflict, the Irish peace-keepers were kept busy with base security andpatrolling. For most, patrolling posed an opportunity tosee Cyprus, and meet the islanders and other foreignpeacekeepers. The next three UNFICYP contingentsup until October 1965 (41 and 42 Inf Bns and 4 Inf Gp)continued to deploy to Famagusta. From then until1968 the remaining Irish contingents (5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10Inf Gps) operated in the Lefka district. Five Irish sol-diers died while serving with Cyprus, none in action.

Meanwhile, in September 1965 the Defence Forcessent 14 officers as observers to the United Nations

group equipped with vintage Ford MkVI armoured cars.During the rotations, nearly 3,000 Irish soldiers wereoverseas; 33% of its strength. The Defence Forces alsoreceived a major honour when Lt Gen Seán McKeownwas appointed ONUC Force Commander.

The situation in the Congo remained volatile withthe UN trying to assist its government in dealing withits internal issues and also dealing with the break-away Katanga province. On February 21st, theSecurity Council passed a resolution authorising theuse of force to prevent the Congo descending intocivil war.

The UN Secretary General’s Representative in theCongo, Irishman Dr Conor Cruise O’Brien, and hisstaff put together a plan to neutralise foreign leader-ship of the Katangan military. It was into this situa-tion that 1 Inf Gp and 35 Inf Bn deployed in May andJune respectively. On August 28th Operation‘Rumpunch’, involving Irish, Swedish and Indiantroops, seized key installations, capturing mercenar-ies and Katangan military personnel.

In a larger operation, ‘Morthor‘, launched onSeptember 12th, three Irish soldiers (Cpl Mick Fallonand Tprs Edward Gaffney and Patrick Mullins) werekilled.

On September 27th UN Secretary General DagHammarskjold died in air crash while travelling to theCongo in order to broker a peace deal.

Meanwhile, A Coy 35 Inf Bn, posted to theKatangan town of Jadotville prior to Operation‘Morthor’, fought a five-day battle against overwhelm-ing odds. Having suffered no fatalities and inflictingheavy casualties on the enemy the company ran outof ammunition and water. With a UN relief columnunable to reach the surrounded Irish company, ComdtPat Quinlan agreed a ceasefire and saw his 150-strong unit taken prisoner. After negotiations, and aprisoner exchange, the Irish troops captured atJadotville where released in October.

Though operations ‘Rumpunch’ and ‘Morthor’achieved some initial success, they failed to detainthe leading figures of the Katangan rebellion, wholater returned to the province.

The situation remained tense in Katanga as 35 InfBn was replaced by 36 Inf Bn. Fighting broke out againin December around Elizabethville and A Coy, 36 InfBn, was tasked to capture a key rail bridge onDecember 16th. During the assault, which becameknown as the Battle of the Tunnel, three Irish soldiers(Lt Patrick Riordan, Sgt Patrick Mulcahy and PteAndrew Wickham) were killed and twelve injured.Later, 14 DSMs were award to members of the compa-ny. The early part of 1962 saw a reduction in fightingand the Irish contingent reverted to a more typical-type peacekeeping role. Lt Gen McKeown returned toIreland and took up appointment as Chief of Staff.

37 Inf Bn took over in May and on August 21st twoof its officers, Comdt J Crowe and Capt GM Kelly) vol-unteered to serve in the United Nations TemporaryExecutive Authority (UNTEA). Earlier that year,Indonesian forces had invaded West Irian (the westernhalf of New Guinea) as a result of a dispute with theNetherlands over the administration of the region.Dutch and Indonesian troops confronted each otheruntil an agreement was eventually brokered to transferresponsibility for West Irian to Indonesia. The UNTEA


1964eb r – The Beatles begintheir first US tour.

Feb 2 – Turkish andGreek fighters breach truce onCyprus.

Ap – 40 Inf Bn deploy withUNFICYP.

M – Egypt, with assis-tance from the Soviet Union,completes first stage of theAswan Dam on the Nile.

e 2 – Nelson Mandelajailed for life.

y – Irish commitment toONUC ends.

A g – Bodies of threemissing civil rights workersfound in Mississippi.

Oc e – NikitaKhrushchev steps down asSoviet leader.

1965 2 – Winston

Churchill dies.eb r 2 – Coy SgtWallace J MacAuley dies whileserving with UNIFCYP.

– Sgt John Hamill dieswhile serving with UNIFCYP.

t – US commitS over50,000 troops to Vietnam.

– Cpl WilliamHetherington dies while servingwith UNIFCYP.

e – India invadesWestern Pakistan.

Se b 3 d – 14 Irish offi-cers dispatched as observers toUNIPOM mission until March1966.

1966 – Indira Gandi

becomes leader of India.i – Nationwide celebra-

tions mark 50th anniversary ofthe 1916 Rising.

– Ian Brady and MyraHindley (Moors Murderers)jailed for life.

0 – England wins theWorld Cup.

O e – Coy Sgt JamesRyan dies while serving withUNIFCYP.

1967J 2 – Three US astro-

nauts die in Apollo I fire.M 5 – Celtic beat Inter-

Milan 1-0 in European Cupfinal.

e 5 – Israel launches pre-emptive attack on Egypt, begin-ning the Six-Day War.

h – Comdt ThomasWickham dies while servingwith UNTSO in Syria.

Oc ob 9 – Marxist revolu-tionary Che Guevara shot dead.

1968a a 6 – Capt ChristopherMcNamara dies while servingwith UNIFCYP.

– Vietcong launchTet Offensive against US forcesin Vietman.

e 0 – Cpl James Fagan dieswhile serving with UNIFCYP.

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p012-23) 24/06/2008 09:53 Page 22

India-Pakistan Observation Mission. This missionwas established in support the United NationsMilitary Observers Group India Pakistan when con-flict broke out along the border between India andPakistan. UN observers deployed along the ceasefireline and following the signing of a peace treaty themission ended on March 22nd 1966.

On June 7th, 1967 Comdt Thomas Wickham, diedwhile serving as an observer with UNTSO during theSix-Day War.

By the tenth anniversary of our entry into UNpeacekeeping, the Defence Forces showed it couldstep up to the mark and not be found wanting.Overseas service was a shot-in-the-arm to the pro-fession of soldiering in Ireland in terms of new expe-riences, equipment, clothing, pay and self-esteem. Itshowed the world that Ireland, though small and stillyoung as a state, was willing to play its part.Overseas service boosted recruitment and itimproved the Defence Forces’ profile and the respectin which it was held by the Irish people.

Defence Forces personnel had served in six differ-ent missions, diverse in climate and people. Thoughthe majority of veterans would say their overseastrips were routine, 66 medals for acts of bravery wereawarded. But overseas also came at a price, with 36personnel killed on UN service and countless injured.This sacrifice was not only felt by the loved ones leftbehind but also by a grateful nation who sawIreland’s stature on the world stage raised to a greatextent by the excellent work carried out by her sol-dier’s on behalf of the country and in the noble causeof helping to bring peace to troubled lands.■


Overseas Units ONUUnit To/Form Commander32 Inf Bn July 1960 to January 1961 Lt Col Buckley33 Inf Bn August 1960 to January 1961 Lt Col Bunworth34 Inf Bn January to July 1961 Lt Col O’Neill 1 Inf Gp May to November 1961 Lt Col O’Donovan35 Inf Bn June to December 1961 Lt Col McNeill/

Lt Col McNamee 36 Inf Bn December 1961 to May 1962 Lt Col Hogan/Lt Col Ryan37 Inf Bn May to November 1962 Lt Col O’Broin2 Armd Car Sqdn November 1962 to April 1963 Comdt Foley38 Inf Bn November 1962 to April 1963 Lt Col Delaney3 Armd Car Sqdn April to October 1963 Comdt Cahalane 39 Inf Bn April to October 1963 Lt Col Dempsey2 Inf Gp November 1963 to June 1964 Lt Col O’Sullivan

U CY40 Inf Bn April to October 1964 Lt Col Barry3 Inf Gp July to December 1964 Lt Col McDonald41 Inf Bn October 1964 to March 1965 Lt Col Dempsey4 Inf Gp January to June 1965 Lt Col Hogan 42 Inf Bn April to September 1965 Lt Col Delaney 5 Inf Gp October to March 1965 Lt Col McGurk6 Inf Gp April to September 1966 Lt Col Walsh7 Inf Gp October 1966 to March 1967 Lt Col Hanley8 Inf Gp March to September 1967 Lt Col Beary9 Inf Gp October 1967 to September 1968 Lt Col Murphy10 Inf Gp March to October 1968 Lt Col O’Sullivan

By the tenth anniver-sary of our entry intoUN peacekeeping, theDefence Forcesshowed it could stepup to the mark andnot be found want-ing. Overseas servicewas a shot-in-the-arm to the profes-sion of soldiering inIreland in terms ofnew experiences,equipment, clothing,pay and self-esteem.It showed the worldthat Ireland, thoughsmall and still youngas a state, was will-ing to play its part.

1958 T

O 1

968

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p012-23) 21/06/2008 10:50 Page 23


00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p24-33) 21/06/2008 11:07


mean you would hardly get agreement among themember States. The daily discussions and debates,which we must have over here in New York are oftenvery difficult and these are in application of the pres-ent Charter. Re-writing the Charter wholesale for anew era will probably not happen until after my time.

When it comes to Ireland’s position on SecurityCouncil Reform our approach is based on a numberof considerations. First, we wish to see an increasein the size of the Council that reflects the realities ofthe 21st Century; secondly, any increase should beregionally balanced including an enhanced role forAfrica; thirdly, any change should not lessen thecapacity of smaller member States like Ireland torotate or to continue to aspire to membership fromtime to time in a reasonable timeframe; fourthly, wewould wish to see a complete removal of the veto. Inany event, there should be no conferral of new vetopowers; and fifthly, an expanded Security Councilshould accommodate member States that play aparticularly significant role in the UN System, forinstance, financially, in peacekeeping, or in theircapacity for regional leadership. So you see we arenot being overly prescriptive but we have a numberof principles to which successive Governments athome have attached importance. We are not alone inthat. There are a lot of countries like ourselves withsimilar views - countries in the UN system like our-selves, which play a similar role, which try to bebridge-builders, extending the hand of friendshipand joining people across the various divides.

An Cosantóir: This year the Defence Forcescelebrates 50 years of unbroken peacekeeping serv-ice and we are very proud of that, but is there a grow-ing feeling within the UN to devolve peacekeepingroles to regional organisations - for example to theEU or the African Union or NATO - as distinct fromputting together distinctly UN Forces wearing blueberets?

Ambassador Kavanagh: From my van-tage point here, I can observe a huge increase overrecent years in recourse to international peace oper-ations, including at the United Nations. Historically,there have never been more UN peacekeepers onmissions in the field with blue headgear. And yet theforces available do not match this need. Kofi Annanhas said that in his view, with his experience, the UNorganisation is being overstretched.

In that context the capacities that are brought byregional organisations are a significant addition andthey are welcomed by the United Nations. So it isnot a question then of either/or. UN operations andthose of regional organisations are not mutuallyexclusive alternatives. The view of the UN itself isthat on the contrary, these can be highly comple-mentary. If you look for example at the evolution ofthe relationship between the EU and the UN in thepeace and security area, the Italians during their EUPresidency in 2003 promulgated a declaration ofprinciples by which the EU would be able to collabo-rate with the UN, in the area of crisis management.The Irish Presidency followed in 2004 and tried toput flesh on that declaration. As a result there is avery close interchange, constant joint planning and adeepening understanding and cooperation betweenthe EU instances on Crisis Management and theUN’s Department of Peacekeeping Operations onthis side of the Atlantic.

The deployment of an EU Operation, authorised

UN

HQ


by the UN Security Council, to support a UN missionin eastern Chad is a very good example of this closecooperation between the United Nations and theEuropean Union.

The essential point I am making is that I wouldn’tcast this in terms of an either/or. The respective rolesof the United Nations and the regional Organi sationsand arrangements can be highly complementary. Andthis, I know, is the view both of the United Nationsand the European Union.

An Cosantóir: It has been written by severalcommentators that ‘Ireland punches above its weight’to use a boxing term in International Peacekeepingand primarily UN peacekeeping and that has beensaid of us down through the years – the question thatI have is do you still think that’s true?

Ambassador Kavanagh: I think it is trueactually. As you know the policy context of Ireland’sparticipation is rooted and grounded in the Charterand the primary responsibility of the United NationsSecurity Council for the maintenance of internation-al peace and security. Ireland does not have anyarmed participation in peace support operationsoverseas that has not been authorised by theSecurity Council. This requirement of a mandatefrom the Security Council is, as you know, part of theTriple Lock, which - under the Defence Acts of theOireachtas - requires approval from the Government,Dáil Éireann and the UN. So that is a very clearstatement of where we are and there are not verymany countries which have explicitly, as a matter ofnational law and policy, placed their overseas opera-tional participation so squarely in a context thatrequires authorisation from the UN Security Council.Many countries do observe this in practice, but thereare very few which have it crystallised so plainly andobviously in national legislation.

There hasn’t been a day in the past fifty yearswhere Irish soldiers have not been in danger, keepingthe peace somewhere in the world. That is not over-looked or forgotten. It is very much to the fore of peo-ple’s awareness and consciousness here at UNHeadquarters, both on the part of the Secretary-General and his staff and among the member States.Ireland’s tradition of peacekeeping is a central part ofwho we are here at the United Nations.

What we have also seen over the years is a con-stant increase in the quality of Irish peacekeeping, inour training, equipment and experience. It wasalways high because of the innate acumen of Irishmilitary personnel when they find themselves in aconflict situation. You only have to look at the num-ber of Force Commanders that we have had, mostrecently Lt Gen Nash in Chad, but also the numberof times that the UN and others have come to uslooking for Ireland to provide people to fill particu-larly sensitive needs. If you actually listen to whatour peers are saying in terms of what our men andwomen in uniform have done in East Timor, Liberia,Kosovo, and are now doing in Chad, there is definite-ly awareness in the UN community that Ireland has aparticular strength in this area and that we are rightup with the leaders.

So I would be very much of the view that Irelandcontinues to have a very significant peacekeepingprofile in the United Nations. Regardless of whethersometimes the numbers are up or sometimes down,the UN has that sense about us - real quality and realcommitment.■

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p24-33) 21/06/2008 11:22


00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p24-33) 24/06/2008 10:04

MIS

SIO

NS


00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p24-33) 24/06/2008 10:04


The second decade of Defence Forces involvementin UN overseas service began with our continuedparticipation with the UNTSO observer missionin the Middle East and with UNFICYP in Cyprus.

It also provided an opportunity for Ireland torecognise its soldiers’ heroism, leadership and devo-tion to duty. On June 6th, at a medal parade in theCurragh Camp, Mr Michael Hillard TD (Minister forDefence) presented distinguished service medals(DSMs) to serving and retired personnel for theirservice in the Congo. Lt Gen Seán McKeown (Chief ofStaff), Lt Col Kevin Nunan, Capt Arthur Magennisand Cpl Charles Connolly all received the DSM 1stClass (with Honour). DSMs were also presentedposthumously to the families of Lt Col M Hogan, CoySgt F Grant and Sgt P Mulcahy.

Meanwhile, in Cyprus the relationship between theGreek and Turkish communities was calm with bothsides talking to each other. HQ UNFICYP held aparade marking United Nations Day on October 24th,attended by representatives of all the mission’s con-tingents, including OC 11 Inf Gp, Lt Col D Ó Broin.

In December 1968 An Cosantóir produced the firstDefence Forces Handbook highlighting the work of theDefence Forces at home and abroad. It showed at thetime that the Defence Forces had an establishment of13,066 PDF and 22,647 FCÁ, with a Defence Vote of£10,892,000 (1966/67). It also noted that our overseas

involvement had contributed to the modernisation ofthe Defence Forces in relation to small-arms, clothing,communications, helicopters and armoured cars.

For most soldiers, their overseas’ experience wassimilar to their predecessors to the missions inCongo and Cyprus. However, for the few who got toserve as observers with UNTSO, this was an oftenunique and personal experience. Irish officers hadbeing serving with the mission since 1958 and couldbe deployed to Israel, Syria or Egypt. On arrival in-theatre, they would receive a brief at HQ UNTSO inJerusalem and then posted to the control centres inTiberias, Damascus or Gaza.

Officers, like Comdt JE White and Capt J Youngwho served with UNTSO in 1969, would team up withother foreign officers to carry out their observerduties, which would involve recording any incidents intheir area and reporting back to their control station.At the control station the staff produced a collatedreport from the information received from the OPsand forward it to HQ UNTSO.

Observers stationed at the OPs were self-suffi-cient and would take turns in cooking and cleaning,though this was mostly done by paying a local personto do these tasks. Some OP teams had a vehicle tocarry out limited patrols.

When not in their OPs the Irish officers wouldusually share an apartment, which they paid for from

1968J e – Robert Kennedy shot

dead.J 29 – Pope Paul VI bans

the use of contraceptives byRoman Catholics.

M 29 – Man United winsEuropean Cup.

Oc be 28 – Lt Ronald Byrnedies on active service inCyprus.

No e ber – Richard Nixonelected US President.

1969h 7 – Israel elects Golda

Meir as its first female leader. p – Bernadette Devlinbecomes youngest MP.

– Tpr Michael Kennedydies on active service inCyprus.

2 – Neil Armstrong firstman to walk on the moon.

g 4 – British troopssent into Northern Ireland torestore law and order.

Oc ber 0 – Ulster B specialsdisbanded.

1970Ap i 6 – Ian Paisley wins

Northern Ireland seat inBritish parliament.

M c 2 d – Concorde makesits maiden flight.

2 – Arms Trial opens inDublin.

J e 2 – New peace plan forMiddle East.e e e 2 – Arab leaderssign Jordan peace deal.o e be 9 – France mournsdeath of De Gaulle.

1971J 25 – Idi Amin ousts

Uganda president.Ap – Maj Gen PJ Delaney

appointed Chief of Staff.J e – Pte Brendan

Cummins dies on active serv-ice in Cyprus.

J – Maj Gen Thomas Carrollappointed Chief of Staff.

J 8 – British troops shootLondonderry rioters.

Oc be – Army blastsNorthern Ireland border roads.

De e be – Bomb demol-ishes crowded Belfast pub.

De e be 2 – Kurt Waldheimappointed UN Secretary-General.

In December 1968 An Cosantóir producedthe first Defence ForcesHandbook highlightingthe work of the DefenceForces at home andabroad.

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p34-43) 21/06/2008 11:34


their allowance of £25/35 per month. Some officerswho brought their families with them would acquirehouses close to their station.

The TroublesIn March 1969 as 12 Inf Gp, under Lt Col D Hassey,travelled to Cyprus to replace 11 Inf Gp, the situationin Northern Ireland deteriorated, with increased sec-tarian violence and a breakdown in law and order. OnAugust 13th, An Taoiseach, Mr John (Jack) Lynchspoke to the nation on television and radio, statingthat Ireland could not stand by as Northern Irelanddescended into anarchy. He also asked the Britishgovernment to request a UN peacekeeping force todeploy to Northern Ireland. (The following day theBritish sent a large number of their own troops to thetroubled region.) The Taoiseach also ordered the IrishArmy to move units to the border and to establishfield hospitals in anticipation of accepting refugees.Within a very short time Irish soldiers found them-selves deployed along the border in support of AnGarda Síochána and in a position to apply some ofthe lessons learned from the static OPs andpatrolling that they had been carrying out overseas.

In the meantime, 13 Inf Gp, under Lt Col P Carroll,deployed to Cyprus in September.

Peacekeeping duties on the Mediterranean islandduring this period mainly revolved around base secu-rity and patrolling. While patrolling, either on foot, byland rover or by Panhard armoured car, the Irish UNtroops attempted and bring a sense of normality tothe day-to-day life of both the Greek and TurkishCypriot communities. At times this would involvetroops using all their diplomatic skills to resolve localissues such as water or grazing rights and ensuringthese did not escalate.

While on patrol in both Greek and Turkish villagesthe Irish were careful not to take sides, particularlywhen questioned by well-informed villagers whowould make reference to Irish history and currentaffairs in relation to their own plight.

From 1970 to 1973, Ireland sent eight more infantrygroups (18 to the 25 Inf Gps) to UNFICYP. As the sit-uation remained generally calm on the island 16Panhard armoured cars returned home and were usedto augment the Defence Forces’ cavalry unitsdeployed along the border with Northern Ireland.

A Brief MissionAs 25 Inf Gp was just establishing itself with UNFI-CYP the UN had to deal with another crisis emergingin the Middle East.

On October 6th 1973, during the Jewish festival ofYom Kippur, Syria, supported by Iraqi, Jordanian,Saudi, and Moroccan contingents, made a surpriseattack on Israeli forces on the Golan Heights. At thesame time Egyptian forces attacked Israeli positionsalong the Suez Canal. After almost three weeks ofheavy fighting a ceasefire was agreed on October22nd (though Israeli Army general Ariel Sharon’sforces continued fighting until October 24th).

On October 23rd, the UN Security Council passeda resolution authorising a peacekeeping force, desig-nated United Nations Emergency Force II (UNEF II) todeploy to the region.

The quickest way to get UNEF II into the field wasto transfer existing contingents from UNFICYP. The

1972a 0 – 13 dead as British

troops open fire on Civil Rightsmarch.e 2 – British embassyin Dublin is burnt down.

22 – US President Nixonvisits Moscow.ly 0 – NI Secretary Willie

Whitelaw holds secret talkswith IRA.

S r h – Nine kidnappedIsraeli athletes die in failed res-cue attempt in Germany.

D ce e – Apollo 17, lastmanned mission to the moonreturns.ec 2 – 14 survivorsfound 10 weeks after planecrash in the Andes.

1973 1 – Ireland joined the

EEC.January 23rd – US President

Nixon announces Vietnam peacedeal.

M t – Liam Cosgrave TDappointed An Taoiseach.

A l – Artist Pablo Picassodies.

e 2 – Erskine Childersbecomes President of Ireland.

Se te 1 – 27 and 28 Inf Bnsestablished as new border units.

O o e 0 – 25 Inf Gp arrive inCario for service with UNEF II.o e – Col R Bunworthappointed Chief of StaffUNTSO.

De e be – Sunningdaleagreement signed in NorthernIreland.

On August 13th, An Taoiseach, Mr John(Jack) Lynch spoke to thenation on television andradio, stating thatIreland could not standby as Northern Irelanddescended into anarchy.

1968 T

O 1

978

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p34-43) 21/06/2008 11:34

the Sinai and the Golan Heights following the YomKippur War.

Conclusion For the next four years, Ireland’s commitment to UNpeacekeeping operations took a back seat as the gov-ernment dealt with the security threat at home, withtroops being increasingly deployed in an aid to thecivil power (ATCP) role supporting An GardaSíochána and providing troops to protect vital instal-lations from attack and to assist in cash escorts.

Throughout this period modernisation of theDefence Forces continued, with reinvestment and thepurchase of small-arms, Panhard APCs, anti-tankweapons, combat uniforms, jet aircraft, naval vesselsand new facilities, such as Monaghan Barracks, whichwas built in 1975. In contrast to 1966 the Defence votein 1976 was £85,400,000 and in 1977 the DefenceForces’ strenght stood at 15,600 PDF and 22,800 FCÁ.

Though no new major troop contingents deployedoverseas, Ireland did continue serving with both


Irish government quickly acceded to a request to sup-ply troops to the new mission and as a result 25 Inf Gpwas pulled out of Cyprus and flown to Cairo fordeployment to Sinai, leaving just a few Irish militarystaff operating at HQ UNFICYP. Soon afterwards 25Inf Gp was augmented by 130 extra troops fromIreland.

On arrival, the Irish troops, in addition to dealingwith the searing heat and desert conditions, also hadto operate in the aftermath of a battle, with both bel-ligerents (Israel and Egypt) still on high alert. Theregion was littered with burnt out tanks and APCs,downed aircraft, and unmarked minefields and unex-ploded ordnance.

In April 1974, 25 Inf Gp was replaced by 26 Inf Gpunder command of Lt Col Parker. The new unit wasonly settling in when the Dublin and Monaghan bomb-ings took place leaving 33 dead and many injured. As aresult of this serious domestic security situation theIrish government decided to withdraw its troops fromthe Sinai for duty at home and Irish commitment toUNEF II ended completely in September.

Meanwhile, on Cyprus in July 1974 serious hostili-ties broke out following a coup d’etat on the Greekside and a resulting invasion of the island by Turkishparachutists. The UN eventually secured a ceasefireand UNFICYP were tasked with patrolling a bufferzone between the belligerents.

On the Golan Heights the situation remainedtense between Israel and Syria. The UN managed tobroker a deal between the sides to disengage theirforces and call a ceasefire. Part of the agreement saythe establishment of the United NationsDisengagement Observation Force (UNDOF). Similarto the setting up of the ONUC mission, the UN usedelements from UNTSO, including Irish officers fromObservation Group Lebanon, in the establishment ofthe new mission, which was to set up OPs and con-duct patrols along a buffer zone between Israeli andSyrian forces.

Irish involvement in the Middle East during thisperiod included Col R Bunworth who served as act-ing Chief of Staff UNTSO from November 1973 to1974, and Capt Joe Fallon who as Military Advisor toFinnish Lt Gen Ensio Siilasvuo, Chief of StaffUNTSO, assisted in setting up the ceasefire lines in

1974A i 25 – Army rebels seize

power in Portugal.M 1 – 33 killed in Dublin

and Monaghan bombings. – 26 Inf Gp UNEFII ordered

back to Ireland. 0 – Greece and Turkey

agree peace deal over Cyprus. – US Vice-President

Ford takes over from RichardNixon.

N ve – PresidentErskine Childers dies in office.

e e h – Birminghamsix charged with bombing.e 9 – Cearbhaill Ó Dálaigh becomes Presidentof Ireland.

1975eb u – MargaretThatcher becomesConservative leader in Britain.

Ap i 30 – Vietnam capital,Saigon falls to NorthVietnamese forces.

– UVF killed three mem-bers of the Miami show band.

g 2 – Former Presidentand An Taoiseach EamonDeValera dies.

Se e – Series ofbomb blasts rock NorthernIreland.

O e – Dutch DrHerrema kidnapped byProvisional IRA.ove 2 – Spanish GenFranco dies.

1976a h – Sallins train robberytakes place.

J – Maj Gen Carl O'Sullivanbecomes Chief of Staff

5 – Four prisonersescape from Special CrimnalCourts in Dublin.

Oc ob 2 – Cearbhaill Ó Dálaigh resign as Presidentof Ireland.

e d – Patrick Hillerybecomes President of Ireland.e e e – Maj Gen JamesQuinn appointed ForceCommander UNFICYP.

1977h 2 – 583 people died in

Tenerife air disaster.A – Red Rum wins his

third Grand National.J 5 – Jack Lynch TD

appointed An Taoiseach.u t – Elvis Presley dies.

No e be 9 – EgyptianPresident Sadat visits Israel.

D e ber 5 – CharlieChaplain dies.

1978e r r – EgyptianPresident Sadat heads to USfor Middle East peace talks.

M h – Israel invadessouth Lebanon.

r – Lt Gen William Callaghanappointed Chief of StaffUNTSO.

J e – Israeli troops leavesouth Lebanon.

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p34-43) 24/06/2008 10:47


Overseas Units Unit To/Form CommanderUN CYP11 Inf Gp August 1968 to March 1969 Lt Col O’Broin12 Inf Gp March to September 1969 Lt Col Hassey13 Inf Gp September 1969 to April 1970 Lt Col Carroll18 Inf Gp March to October 1970 Lt Col O’Brien19 Inf Gp September 1970 to April 1971 Lt Col Tracey20 Inf Gp April to October 1971 Lt Col Griffin21 Inf Gp October 1971 to April 1972 Lt Col Callaghan22 Inf Gp April to October 1972 Lt Col Hurley23 Inf Gp October 1972 to April 1973 Lt Col Donovan24 Inf Gp April to October 1973 Lt Col Garvey25 Inf Gp October to December 1973 Lt Col Allen

U25 Inf Gp December 1973 to April 1974 Lt Col Allen26 Inf Gp April to September 1974 Lt Col Parker

U Thant(UN Sec Gen 1961-71)

UNTSO and UNFICYP.Major Irish UN appointments during this period

included Maj Gen James Quinn, who was appointedForce Commander UNFICYP in December 1973; LtCol J O’Sullivan, who was seconded to the UN asMilitary Staff Officer to the UN Secretary General’sRepresentative in Rhodesia in 1977; and Lt GenWilliam Callaghan, who was appointed Chief of StaffUNTSO in 1978.

In regard to our overseas service, the period 1968to 1978 can be seen as something of a cooling offperiod. Though we continued supplying units to UNFI-CYP (until 1974) and UNTSO, the main focus for theDefence Forces switched back home because of thethreat to Ireland’s national security.

The period also saw increased government expen-diture on defence with new military hardware andincreased numbers in the Defence Forces.

During those ten years we lost five soldiers serv-ing overseas.■

1968 T

O 1

978

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p34-43) 24/06/2008 10:47


1978M h – PLO launch

attacks on Israel.M h 15 – Israel

launches ‘Operation Litani’into Lebanon.

M h – UN SecurityCouncil adopts Resolutions425 and 426 establishingUNIFIL.

M – Irish governmentapproves despatch of troopsto UNIFIL.r – Lt Gen WilliamCallaghan appointed Chiefof Staff UNTSO.

M 2 r – Advance party of 43Inf Bn arrive in southLebanon.e – Israeli troops with-draw from south Lebanon.

25 – Pte GerardMoon dies on active servicein Lebanon.g – Maj Gen CarlO’Sullivan promoted Lt Genand retains his appointmentas Chief of Staff.

Oc ober – Cardinal CarolWojtyla of Krakow becomesPope John Paul II.

De em e 2 – Cpl ThomasReynolds dies on activeservice in Lebanon.

1979y – Vietnamese-led

rebel forces remove KhmerRouge troops fromCambodia.

e 7 – China invadesVietnam. t – Pte Philip Grogan

dies on active service inLebanon.g 2 – IRA bombs killsLord Mountbatten atMullaghmore and 18 Britishsoldiers killed atWarrenpoint.

Se e be – Pope JohnPaul II calls for an end toviolence in Ireland duringhis Irish visit.

De em e – CharlesHaughey TD becomesTaoiseach.

D e er 2 – PádraigFaulkner TD appointedMinister for Defence.

The period 1978 to 1988 was dominated by violentevents in the Middle East and the ever-increasingescalation of hostile activity towards peacekeep-ers, especially in Lebanon.

The year 1978 was the 180th anniversary of the 1798Rebellion in Ireland and the death of Wolfe Tone, aswell as the 60th anniversaries of the Sinn Féin land-slide election and the ending of the First World War. Itwas also the year that saw the Republic of Ireland,then only 30 years in existence, take another stepalong the road of establishing this country as a majorplayer in UN peacekeeping operations when, on May25th, the first Irish troops bound for service with theUnited Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)arrived at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel.

Almost 20 years to the day since the first overseasdeployment of Defence Forces personnel withUNOGIL (also to Lebanon) members of the advanceparty of 43 Inf Bn (under the command of Lt Col MFGuerin) and its associated components commencedtheir six-month tour of duty, with the main body oftroops arriving in mid-June.

Originally envisaged by the UN as a short durationmission, as its name suggested, little did anyone inIreland know that our involvement with UNIFIL wouldturn out to be the longest and costliest peacekeepingmission in our history, continuing for over 20 years,and would seriously test the resolve of the govern-ment and the Defence Forces.The Lebanese Situation

After their ejection from Jordan a large proportionof the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO)

Almost 20 years to theday since the first over-seas deployment of DFpersonnel with UNOGILthe advance party of 43Inf Bn commenced theirsix-month tour of duty.

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p34-43) 24/06/2008 10:47

moved to Lebanon, where they set up bases and con-tinued to carry out attacks on Israel, particularly in theperiod leading up to the outbreak of civil war inLebanon in 1975. During that civil war, which wasfought between Christians, Muslims, Druze,Palestinians and other factions, the institutions ofstate eroded and eventually broke down. The Lebanesesecurity forces were unable to contain the situation asit too splintered along loyalties to religious institu-tions. All of these factors led to increased tensionsbetween Lebanon and Israel, who were concerned bythe instability of their northern neighbour and the pos-sibility of an emergent Palestinian state coming intoexistence on Lebanese territory.

On March 11th 1978 the PLO launched a series ofattacks into Israel that left many Israelis dead andinjured. The expected retaliation was not long in com-ing. On this occasion, however, Israel did not followits usual pattern of retaliatory strikes against select-ed targets; instead, the response was the launch ofOperation ‘Litani’ on March 14th/15th. This was noth-ing less than the full-scale invasion of Lebanon as faras the Litani River, encompassing the entire southernpart of the country. This move had the potential todestabilize the whole Middle East.

The Lebanese authorities immediately protestedto the UN condemning the invasion and stating thatthe country had no connection with the PLO. Both theIsraelis and the Lebanese governments were unableto resolve the issues and a formal request was lodgedwith the UN Security Council for discussion.

On March 19th, the Security Council responded byadopting Resolution 425, which established tworequirements. The first called for strict respect for theterritorial integrity, security and political independ-ence of Lebanon within its internationally recognisedboundaries (something the Irish state would have hadsome sympathy with as a result of her own history ofterritorial disputes). The second called on Israel toimmediately cease its military actions againstLebanon and withdraw forthwith its forces from allLebanese territory. A subsequent Resolution, 426,approved the report of the Secretary General on theimplementation of Resolution 425, which also con-tained guidelines for the operations of UNIFIL.

UNIFIL EstablishedThe UN Security Council established UNIFIL with theassistance of the United Nations Truce SupervisionOrganisation (UNTSO), the longest ongoing UNpeacekeeping operation (established in 1948). Forty-two observers from UNTSO’s headquarters inJerusalem were permanently assigned to UNIFIL asObserver Group Lebanon (OGL). UNTSO’s personnelwere well aware of the dangers they faced as in the sixmonths prior to UNIFIL’s activation it was reportedthat ‘the average observer in Lebanon came under firenine times, his vehicle will have been hit twice whiledriving and on eight occasions he will have been thevictim of ill treatment or threats of death at his OP’.

On its establishment UNIFIL’s main objectives were:– To confirm the withdrawal of Israeli forces– To restore international peace and security– To assist the government of Lebanon in ensuring

the return of its effective authority in the area tooffer humanitrian assistance.


1978 T

O 1

988

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p34-43) 21/06/2008 11:34

themselves and the IDF as the South Lebanese Army(SLA) and by UNIFIL as the De Facto Forces (DFF).

Confrontations between Irish UNIFIL troops andHaddad’s forces were quite frequent and more dan-gerous. The most serious incident, later known as‘the Battle of At Tiri’, took place in the Irish AO onEaster Sunday, April 6th 1980 after DFF forcesattempted to take control of the village of At Tiri,which was positioned in a strategic area providingaccess to Hill 880, where UNIFIL had established aposition on a dominant feature overlooking the vil-lages of Haddathah, Tibnine and Harris in the forwardedge of IRISHBATT area and jutting into the DFFcontrolled area.

During the confrontation, which escalated over asix-day period, IRISHBATT, supported by otherUNIFIL elements, continually denied the DFF con-trol of the area. This was an important milestone onthe part of UNIFIL as up to this point all attempts todiscredit and intimidate UNIFIL troops had met withlittle physical retaliation. However, the UN’s antago-nists were to learn a hard lesson at At Tiri; that forcecould, and would, be met with force when necessary.

Over the period of the battle, IRISHBATT proveditself to be a robust force, while at the same timerespectful of its position as a peacekeeper. Duringthe action a DFF half-track was destroyed and a num-ber of their personnel were killed and injured. TwoUNIFIL personnel, one Irish (Pte Stephen Griffin) andone Fijian, were killed in action and four DefenceForces personnel received the Military Medal forGallantry (MMG) for their actions.

If the village had been surrendered at that timethen it is possible that UNIFIL’s presence in SouthLebanon would have been made obsolete and itsmandate made redundant, leaving its personnel opento intimidation, ridicule and harassment on a greaterlevel from then on.

As it was, less than two weeks later three soldiersof 46 Inf Bn were abducted by Haddad’s men, with twoof them (Ptes Derek Smallhorne and Tom Barrett)being murdered in cold blood on April 18th. This was aneveryday threat to Irish peacekeepers and observerson other missions and many were abducted andreleased over the years, as hostage-taking became asignificant tool in the arsenal of the UN force’s ene-mies. A medieval human bartering system taking placein a haunting medieval landscape was just somethingelse that Irish soldiers had to get used to.

As it became evident that UNIFIL was no longer an‘interim’ mission IRISHBATT had to adjust to ensurethat its accommodation, facilities and logistics reflect-ed the long-term nature of the mission that was nowbecoming evident. To that end as early as December1980 the battalion began being resupplied by the NavalService. The first such mission, carried out by LÉ Emer,set sail from Cobh on November 23rd, arriving in Beirutflying the UN standard for the first time on an Irishship. These resupply missions by the Naval Servicebecame the norm and they continued for each consec-utive battalion during the life of the mission.

Irishman in CommandIn February1981, Ireland’s position as a major playerin UNIFIL was recognised with the appointment of Lt Gen William Callaghan as Force Commander,


On May 9th 1978 the Irish government approved thedispatch of an Irish battalion to UNIFIL, thus begin-ning an intense two-week period of preparation fordeployment. From the outset the new mission encoun-tered serious difficulties. The United States, the origi-nal sponsor of the peacekeeping force, failed to give itthe necessary support; Israel criticised Resolution425 for being ‘inadequate and lacking’; and Arabstates attacked the Resolution for not explicitly con-demning Israel and its failure to completely withdrawits forces to allow UNIFIL to deploy along the borderand fulfil its mandate. All these factors combined tonegate the peacekeepers’ mandate in the those earlyyears, and resulted in an ‘interim’force remaining inplace for decades.

However, this was the mandate that Irish soldiersfound themselves with and they endeavoured to carryit out as a functional part of UNIFIL and in an environ-ment that without warning frequently turned hostileand dangerous.

The Lebanon mission quickly became a high-pro-file operation for Ireland and its military. The largetroop numbers that the Defence Forces had beensending to serve with UNFICYP in Cyprus had beenterminated by 1974 and only a small staff element stillserved there. (which was commanded by an Irishman,Maj Gen James Quinn DSM, who had been appointedin December 1976).

November 1978 also saw, for the first time, DefenceForces personnel take up important appointments atUnited Nations Headquarters in New York (UNNY).Some later appointments would include officers serv-ing in the UN Department of PeacekeepingOperations (DPKO). These appointments would bevital in future missions, not to mention UNIFIL.

Troops DeployThe Irish battalion in South Lebanon was originallydeployed about an hour’s drive from UNIFIL HQ,which was at Naquora on the coast near the RoshHanikra border crossing point with Israel. At the timethe Naquora landscape was quite flat and dirty andnothing compared to the built-up major military campthat later became familiar to troops who served in theHQ or passed through on leave.

At first ‘IRISHBATT’, as the Irish battalion wasknown in UNIFIL terminology and its companies weretemporarily sprawled across barren hilltops in tentedvillages awaiting the move to their Areas of Operations(AO). Battalion HQ was encamped on the outskirts ofTibnine village under the crumbling walls of an oldCrusader castle. A Coy, camped on a hill near Shaqra,was the only other company that would remain where itwas in the early days. However, Irish troops would soonbecome familiar with place names such as Al Yatun, AtTiri, Harris, Haddatha, Beit Yahun, and Brachit, all ofwhich would become synonymous with the service ofIrish soldiers in Lebanon and become part of Irish mili-tary vocabulary and historiography.

1979 saw IRISHBATT consolidate its positions andAO, which would eventually constitute a considerable100sq kms. This area was subject to frequent infiltrationof armed elements from the belligerent sides and hadto be secured. Probably the greatest thorn in UNIFIL’sside, and hence IRISHBATT’s, was the Israeli-backedChristian militia of Maj Saad Haddad, referred to by

1980M h 4 – Robert Mugabe

becomes President ofZimbabwe.

M 0 – First femalecadets join the DefenceForces.

M – Army RangerWing established.

– Battle of At TiriSouth Lebanon.

– Pte Stephen Griffindies on active service inLebanon.

A i – Ptes DerekSmallhorne and ThomasBarrett die on active servicein Lebanon. – SAS end Iranian

embassy siege in London.M t – Sgt Edward Yates

dies on active service inLebanon.

Se be 2 – War breaks-out between Iran and Iraq.

Oc ber - Sylvester BarretTD appointed Minister forDefence.

Oc e – Cpl VincentDuffy dies on active servicein Lebanon.

e e be 6 h – Naval Serviceconduct first ever re-supplyvoyage to UNIFIL mission.

De e e – Former BeatleJohn Lennon shot dead.

De e e 7 – Pte JohnMarshall dies on active serv-ice in Lebanon.

1981y 1 – Tehran frees US

hostages after 444 days. 1 – Coy Sgt James

Martin dies on active servicein Lebanon.

eb – Lt Gen WilliamCallaghan appointed UNIFILForce Commander.

M 0 – US PresidentReagan survives assassina-tion attempt.

A il 2 – Pte Hugh Dohertydies on active service inLebanon and Pte KevinJoyce is listed missing inaction.

M – Republican prisonerBobby Sands dies on hungerstrike in Northern Ireland.

M – Pope John Paul IIsurvives assassination inRome.

– Lt Gen Louis Hoganappointed Chief of Staff.

J e 22 d – Pte Niall Byrnedies on active service inLebanon.e 0 – James Tullyappointed Minister forDefence.

Oc ber – Egypt’s PresidentSadat assassinated.

e m 0 – The Aids epi-demic is discovered.

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p34-43) 21/06/2008 11:35


1982M 9 – Paddy Power

appointed Minister forDefence.

0t – Pte Gerard Hodgesdies on active service inLebanon.

A l 2 – Argentina invadesFalklands.e – Israeli ambassadorshot in London.e – Ceasefire agreed onFalklands.

A u 0 – PLO leader YasserArafat forced to leave Beirut.

ep e be – Refugees mas-sacred in Beirut camps.

O 2 – Ptes Peter Burke,Thomas Murphy and CplGreg Morrow die on activeservice in Lebanon.

ece e 14 – Patrick Cooneyappointed Minister forDefence.

1983e 9 – Irish Derby win-

ning horse Shergar kid-napped.

M 2 d – President Reganlaunches the StrategicDefensive Initiative (SDI)(Star Wars).

A 2 t – Alledged HitlerDiaries published.

e e e – Dozensescape in Maze break-out.

O e 2 d – Beirut blasts killUS and French peacekeepers.

O 5 – US troops invadeGrenada.

1984A – Policewoman shot

dead during Libyan embassysiege in London.

– Lt Gen Gerald O’Sullivanappointed Chief of Staff.

Sep e e 26 – UK and Chinaagree Hong Kong handover.

O – Cpl GeorgeMurray dies on active servicein Lebanon.to e 2 – IRA target Britishcabinet in Brighton bombblast.e e – President

Reagan electedf or a secondterm.

Dec 3 d – Hundreds die inBhopal chemical accident inIndia.

1985y 5 – Israel airlifts thou-

sands of Jewish Ethiopianrefugees out of Sudan.

– Mikhail Gorbachevbecomes Soviet leader.e 23 d – 329 dies in Air Indiacrash off the Irish Coast.e – Beirut ordeal endsfor hostages.e e – Anglo-Irish

Agreement signed.e e – Hijacked Egypt-

Air passenger jet to Maltastormed by commandoes.

a position he would hold until May 1986.Lt Gen Callaghan was not a man to mince his

words. In an interview for BBC radio he was askedhow Maj Hadaad could make his task easier. Hisresponse was clear: ‘I do not isolate Major Hadaador the armed elements or anybody, because co-operation is the name of the game here. You know, Ifind it very hard to explain to volunteersoldiers...sent by participating nations to do a jobto help Lebanon to re-assert its authority, and theycome and they are fired at, they are mortared, theyare tanked... I find it very hard to get my soldiers tounderstand that situation, but I think they do. I thinkthis is so unfair and so unjust and so unreasonablein our circumstances.’

On April 27th 1981, two Irish soldiers wereattacked by a Palestinian group near Dayr Ntar. One(Pte Hugh Doherty) was shot dead and the other (SSCaomhán Seoighe) listed as missing in action.

In June 1982, after increasing cross-borderexchanges with the PLO the IDF invaded Lebanon oncemore, this time determined to drive the PLO from thecountry entirely. The Israeli action effectively sidelinedthe lightly armed UNIFIL who remained behind Israelilines and were limited to trying to protect and providedhumanitarian assistance to the local population.

In August, a US-backed agreement allowed Syrian and PLO forces to withdraw from Beirut

1978 T

O 1

988

Kurt Waldheim(UN Sec Gen 1971-82)

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p34-43) 21/06/2008 11:35

up the appointment as its Chief Military Observer untilMay 1989, when he was succeed by Brig Gen J Enright.

1988 saw Irish personnel join the United NationsRelief Works Agency (UNRWA) which lasted fromFebruary that year to June 1992 and in April the newlyestablished United Nations Good Offices Mission inAfghanistan and Pakistan (UNGOMAP) saw furtherIrish deployments until that mission ended in 1990.This mission was further complemented and mirroredin August by the commitment of personnel to theUnited Nations Iran Iraq Military Observer Group(UNIIMOG) until it too ended in 1991.

ConclusionIn the period between mid-1978 and mid-1988, theDefence Forces, on the authority of the Irish govern-ment, took part in eight UN-mandated missions, withapproximately 11,000 individual tours of duty. Theseinvolved UNFICYP, UNTSO, UNIT, UNMOGIP,UNGOMAP, UNRWA, UNIFIL and UNNY. Of these,the largest and probably the most dominant on Irishpolitics, the Defence Forces and the state wasIreland’s commitment to UNIFIL.

From the time the first Irish boots hit the groundwith 43 Irish Infantry Battalion in May 1978 to the


helping to stabilise the area. This withdrawal wassupervised by the introduction into Beirut of a largemultinational force containing US and French troops.

The UN also declared around this time that it had a$300 million deficit on peacekeeping operations aroundthe world and was facing a difficult time in fundingsuch missions. The increasing deficit in finances didnot, however, affect the operational conduct of mis-sions: credit for that was given to troop-contributingcountries, such as Ireland, who in spite of the delays inreimbursement and the victimisation of their soldierscontinued to support the organisation.

Throughout 1982 Irish casualties continued tomount in the region. In September, Comdt MichaelNestor serving with UNTSO was killed by a landmineexplosion in Beirut and in October, three Irish soldiers(Cpl Gregory Marrow, Ptes Peter Burke and ThomasMurphy) were murdered at Tibnine Bridge by a memberof their own company.

Life for the Irish soldier serving with UNIFIL duringour long tenure in South Lebanon consisted of longperiods of routine; repetitive work encapsulatingcheckpoints, observation posts, patrols and other workthat the mission and environment dictated. However,the routine was often replaced by periods of anxietyand tension when Irish peacekeepers became theobject and victims of the belligerent factions.

These incidents of obstruction to UNIFIL’s efforts tocarry out its mandate continued despite the best effortsof the Irish government, which had acted as early as1980, by convening a conference in Dublin for troop-contributing countries, to try to enhance UNIFIL’s effec-tiveness in dealing with such situations. This Irish ini-tiative helped the UN to put in place better proceduresfor liaison between these countries in dealing with suchactions. However, the mission and the political environ-ment changed repeatedly and rapidly, particularly afterthe Israeli invasion of 1982, and actions against UNIFILpersonnel continued on a regular basis.

On October 1983 suicide bombers attacked the USmarine and French bases of the multinational force inBeirut, causing hundreds of casualties and the with-drawal of the force.

In 1984 Ireland became involved with the UnitedNations Inspection Teams mission (UNIT), which last-ed until 1988, and Lt Gen William Callaghan wasawarded the Distinguished Service Medal 1st Class,having become the longest serving UNIFIL force com-mander of any nationality.

1985 saw Israeli forces partially withdraw fromLebanon but retain control of an enclave (referred toby UNIFIL as the Israeli Controlled Area, or ICA) onthe Lebanese side of the Israeli/Lebanese border.

May 1986 saw Lt Gen Callaghan step down as ForceCommander UNIFIL to take up the position of Chief ofStaff UNTSO until he retired a year later.

On August 21st Lt Aengus Murphy was killed by aroadside bomb, while carrying out mine-sweepingduties near At Tiri, and on January 10th 1987, CplDermot McLaughlin died in Brachit as a result of hos-tile fire from an Israeli tank.

Ireland continued to be involved in other UN mis-sions throughout this period and in September 1987Irish officers joined the United Nations MilitaryObserver Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) tomonitor the situation there, and Brig Gen J Parker took

1986 2 – Space shuttle

Challenger explodes killingseven astronauts.

e u – Paddy O’Tooleappointed Minister forDefence.

b y 20 h – Soviets launchMir Space station.

Fe – Lt Gen TadhgO’Sullivan appointed Chiefof Staff.

A 2 – Soviets admitnuclear accident atChernobyol. – Lt Gen William Callaghan

appointed Chief of StaffUNTSO. 2 h – Tpr Paul Fogarty

dies on active service inLebanon.g 2 – Lt AengusMurphy dies on active serv-ice in Lebanon.e e – US hostageDavid Jacobsen released inBeirut.

be – Pte WilliamO’Brien dies on active serv-ice in Lebanon.

1987 0 – Cpl Dermot

McLoughlin dies on activeservice in Lebanon.

20 – Terry Waiteabducted in Beirut.

eb u 2 h – Sgt Maj JohnFitzgerald dies on activeservice in Lebanon.

M ch 0 – Michael Noonanappointed Minister forDefence. 3 – Nazi war criminal

Klaus Barbie sentenced tolife.

A – Nazi prisonerRudolph Hess dies inGermany.

– Gunman killed 14in Hungerford.

A 2 – Cpl GeorgeBolger dies on active servicein Lebanon.

Se e h – Brig GenJames Parker becomesChief Military Observer toUNMOGIP.

No e be – Bomb blastkills 11 at EnniskillenMemorial day.

1988M c – IRA gang shot

dead by SAS in Gibraltar.M c 7 – Gnr Paul Cullen


A 5 – Hijackers free 25hostages from KuwaitiAirways jet.

– Soviet Union signsagreement pledging to with-draw from Afghanistan. 3 d – US warship shoots

down Iranian airliner.J – Piper Alpha oil rig

blaze in North Sea.

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p34-43) 21/06/2008 11:35

middle of 1987 there were 25 Irish fatalities amongthose serving with the UN, as well as dozens of othercasualties. This compares with the period 1968 to 1978where there were five deaths, and the first 10 years ofIrish UN involvement, from 1958 to 1968, during which31 fatalities were suffered, including 26 in the fouryears of the Congo mission (ONUC) 1960-1964.

In the 1978 to 1988 period three senior Irish officersheld the appointments of Chief Military Observer orForce Commander with four United Nations missions,important milestones in Irish military history.

The ‘Leb’, the Congo, Cyprus and all the othercountries where Irish soldiers have served and con-tinue to serve, have become part of the Irish psyche,and the Irish people, by sending their soldiers tothose troubled lands, have laid the foundations fornot only a part of the historical narrative of thosecountries but also for the Irish Defence Forces, theIrish people and the state. This narrative reflects theneed for our small nation to be an active player inthe search for international peace and reconcilia-tion. Like other contributing countries, Ireland’scommitment to the principles of the UN, which hasbecome a major aspect of her foreign policy since1955, has exacted a heavy price. But Ireland has ben-efited greatly as a result.

For the Irish soldier on the ground in troubledregions the experience of peacekeeping and theblood, sweat and tears that service has exacted oncheckpoints, OPs or in camps, has resulted in manyof our soldiers being seduced by the landscapes andpeoples they have come in contact with. Even thefact that sometimes they have felt futile in the faceof the situations they have found themselves in ithas done little to quash the enthusiasm to help andthe need to return again and again.

The experience of Irish soldiers on peacekeepingmissions has been, and will continue to be, one ofthe most noble achievements in modern Irish military history.■


Overseas Units Unit To/Form Commander43 Inf Bn May to October 1978 Lt Col Guerin44 Inf Bn November 1978 to April 1979 Lt Col Savino45 Inf Bn May to October 1979 Lt Col Quinlin46 Inf Bn November 1797 to April 1980 Lt Col Kissane47 Inf Bn May to October 1980 Lt Col Stewart 48 Inf Bn November 1980 to April 1981 Lt Col Murray49 Inf Bn May to October 1981 Lt Col McNiocaill50 Inf Bn November 1981 to April 1982 Lt Col Enright51 Inf Bn May to October 1982 Lt Col Minehan52 Inf Bn November 1982to April 1983 Lt Col McCarthy53 Inf Bn May to October 1983 Lt Col McGrath54 Inf Bn November 1983 to April 1984 Lt Col Kelly 55 Inf Bn May to October 1984 Lt Col McQullian56 Inf Bn November 1984 to April 1985 Lt Col Crean57 Inf Bn May to October 1985 Lt Col Young58 Inf Bn November 1985 to April 1986 Lt Col Wright59 Inf Bn May to October 1986 Lt Col O’Shea60 Inf Bn November 1986 to April 1987 Lt Col Rohan61 Inf Bn May to October 1987 Lt Col Flood62 Inf Bn November 1987 to April 1988 Lt Col Farrell63 Inf Bn May to October 1988 Lt Col O’Grady

1978 T

O 1

988

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p34-43) 21/06/2008 11:35


00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p44-53) 21/06/2008 11:48


The Military Medal for Gallantry With DistinctionTpr Anthony Browne CongoCapt Adrian Ainsworth LebanonLt Anthony Bracken LebanonCpl Michael Jones LebanonPte Michael John Daly LebanonComdt Michael Lynch Lebanon

The Military Medal for Gallantry With MeritPte Paul Coventry Lebanon

The Distinguished Service MedalWith HonourLt Gen John McKeown CongoComdt Kevin Nunan CongoCapt Arthur Magennis CongoCpl Charles Connolly CongoCpl James Doohan LebanonMaj Gen James Quinn CyprusLt Gen William Callaghan LebanonLt Gen James Parker India/PakistanSgt Gerry Lanigan LebanonLt Gen JN Bergin UN ServiceLt Gen Gerry McMahon UN ServiceLt Gen David Stapleton Golan HeightsLt Gen Colm Mangan UN ServiceLt Gen Jim Sreenan UN Service

The Distinguished Service MedalWith DistinctionCol Justin MacCarthy CongoLt Col Patrick Barry CongoLt Col Michael Hogan CongoComdt Columba Browne CongoComdt Joseph Fitzpatrick CongoComdt James Flynn CongoCapt Thomas Boyle CongoCapt James Lavery CongoCapt Roger McCorley CongoCapt John Norton CongoCapt Michael Purfield CongoCapt Thomas Quinlan CongoLt Peter Feeley CongoLt Anthony Murphy CongoLt Patrick Riordan CongoSgt Maj Patrick Norris CongoCoy Sgt Daniel Carroll CongoCoy Sgt Walter Hegarty CongoCoy Sgt William McLoughlin CongoCQMS James Cotter CongoSgt Alfred Johnston CongoSgt John Quirke CongoSgt Michael Rowland CongoSgt George Shaughnessy CongoCpl William Allen CongoCpl Gerard Francis Congo

Cpl John Kavanagh CongoCpl Patrick Gregan CongoCpl Michael O’Sullivan CongoPte Anthony Connolly CongoComdt Joseph Fallon LebanonLt Col Gerald O’Sullivan CyprusComdt James Flynn CyprusSgt Maurice Lordon LebanonPte Michael Dillon LebanonPte Colin Douglas LebanonPte Michael Burke LebanonSgt John Power LebanonPte Edward Doyle LebanonSgt Michael Fleming Lebanon

The Distinguished Service MedalWith MeritSgt John O’Reilly CongoSgt Thomas Maguire CongoSgt Patrick McCormack CongoCoy Sgt Felix Grant CongoPte Patrick Wall CongoPte John Murray CongoPte James Murray CongoPte Peter Madigan CongoA/Cpl Aiden Doyle CongoCpl John Keenan CongoPte Christopher Doolan CongoPte John Clarke CongoCpl Anthony Woodcock CongoCpl Francis O’Neill CongoCpl Edward Nolan CongoCpl John Kealy CongoCpl James Feery CongoCpl James Fallon CongoSgt William Whelan CongoSgt John Ryan CongoSgt William O’Sullivan CongoSgt James McCafferty CongoSgt Patrick Mulcahy CongoSgt Daniel Mannix CongoSgt Patrick Hayes CongoSgt William Hartley CongoSgt John Daly CongoSgt Richard Connolly CongoSgt Joseph Cashman CongoSgt Daniel Ahern CongoCoy Sgt Christopher Walsh CongoFr Edward Dunne LebanonSgt Michael Smith LebanonCpl Noel Mullins LebanonSgt Richard O’Shea LebanonCpl Timothy McCarthy LebanonPte K Benson LebanonPte P Kennedy LebanonPte Michael Geoghegan LebanonComdt Ian Byrne LiberiaCoy Sgt David Murphy Liberia

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p44-53) 21/06/2008 11:48


00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p44-53) 21/06/2008 11:48


Name Date Home UnitCougo (ONUC)Coy Sgt Felix Grant DSM (33 Inf Bn) 3 October 1960 12 Inf Bn Col Justin MacCarthy (HQ ONUC) 27 October 1960 HQ 4 W BdeLt Kevin Gleeson (33 Inf Bn) 8 November 1960 2 Fd Engr Coy Sgt Hugh F Gaynor (33 Inf Bn) 8 November 1960 2 Mot SqnCpl Liam Dougan (33 Inf Bn) 8 November 1960 5 Inf BnCpl Peter Kelly (33 Inf Bn) 8 November 1960 5 Inf BnPte Matthew Farrell (33 Inf Bn) 8 November 1960 2 Hosp CoyTpr Thomas Fennell (33 Inf Bn) 8 November 1960 2 Mot SqnTpr Anthony Browne MMG (33 Inf Bn) 8 November 1960 2 Mot SqnPte Michael McGuinn (33 Inf Bn) 8 November 1960 2 Fd Engr CoyPte Gerard Killeen (33 Inf Bn) 8 November 1960 CTD (E) Pte Patrick H Davis (33 Inf Bn) 10 November 1960 2 Fd Engr CoyCpl Liam Kelly (33 Inf Bn) 24 December 1960 3 Inf BnCpl Luke Kelly (HQ ONUC) 30 August 1961 Dep MPC Tpr Edward Gaffney (35 Inf Bn) 13 September 1961 1 Armd Car Sqn Tpr Patrick Mullins (35 Inf Bn) 15 September 1961 1 Mot Sqn Cpl Michael Nolan (35 Inf Bn) 15 September 1961 1 Tk Sqn Cpl Michael Fallon (36 Inf Bn) 8 December 1961 5 Inf BnSgt Patrick Mulcahy DSM (36 Inf Bn) 16 December 1961 6 Fd Arty RegtLt Patrick A Riordan DSM (36 Inf Bn) 16 December 1961 6 Fd Arty RegtPte Andrew Wickham (36 Inf Bn) 16 December 1961 2 Inf BnCpl John Geoghegan (36 Inf Bn) 28 December 1961 15 Inf BnCpl John Power (36 Inf Bn) 7 March 1962 CTD (E)Capt Ronald L McCann (HQ ONUC) 9 May 1962 CTD (W)Cpl John McGrath (38 Inf Bn) 21 March 1963 4 Hosp CoyComdt Thomas McMahon (HQ ONUC) 28 September 1963 HQ W ComdCyprus (UNFICYP)Coy Sgt Wallace J MacAuley (41 Inf Bn) 22 February 1965 Dep MPC Sgt John Hamill (4 Inf Gp) 7 April 1965 Dep CavCpl William Hetherington (4 Inf Gp) 19 July 1965 CTD (E)Coy Sgt James Ryan (6 Inf Gp) 4 October 1966 5 Inf BnCapt Christopher McNamara (9 Inf Gp) 16 January 1968 2 Grn S&T CoyCpl James Fagan (10 Inf Gp) 10 June 1968 2 Mot SqnLt Ronald B Byrne (11 Inf Gp) 28 October 1968 4 Inf BnTpr Michael Kennedy (12 Inf Gp) 1 July 1969 1 Armd Car SqnPte Brendan Cummins (20 Inf Gp) 11 June 1971 2 Inf BnMiddle East/UNTSOComdt Thomas P Wickham (UNTSO) 7 June 1967 HQ C ComdComdt Michael Nestor (UNTSO) 25 September 1982 Mil ColLebanon/UNIFILPte Gerard Moon (43 Inf Bn) 25 August 1978 4 Inf BnCpl Thomas Reynolds (44 Inf Bn) 24 December 1978 2 Grn S&T CoyPte Philip Grogan (UNIFIL HQ) 10 July 1979 28 Inf BnPte Stephen Griffin (46 Inf Bn) 16 April 1980 1 Fd Engr CoyPte Thomas Barrett (46 Inf Bn) 18 April 1980 4 Inf BnPte Derek Smallhorne (46 Inf Bn) 18 April 1980 4 Inf BnSgt Edward Yates (47 Inf Bn) 31 May 1980 2 Cav Sqn Cpl Vincent Duffy (47 Inf Bn) 18 October 1980 6 Fd Sig CoyPte John Marchshall (49 Inf Bn) 17 December 1980 6 Fd S&T CoyCoy Sgt James Martin (UNIFIL HQ) 10 February 1981 4 Grn MP CoyPte Caoimhín Seoighe (48 Inf Bn) 27 April 1981 1 Cn Cois Pte Hugh Doherty (49 Inf Bn) 27 April 1981 28 Inf BnPte Niall Byrne (49 Inf Bn) 22 June 1981 6 Inf BnPte Gerard Hodges (50 Inf Bn) 20 March 1982 CTD (SPte Peter Burke (52 Inf Bn) 27 October 1982 5 Inf BnCpl Gregory Morrow (52 Inf Bn) 27 October 1982 2 Inf BnPte Thomas Murphy (52 Inf Bn) 27 October 1982 2 Inf BnCpl George Murray (55 Inf Bn) 9 October 1984 2 Grn MP CoyTpr Paul Fogarty (59 Inf Bn) 20 July 1986 1 Tk SqLt Aonghus Murphy (59 Inf Bn) 21 August 1986 AASPte William O’Brien (60 Inf Bn) 6 December 1986 6 Inf BnCpl Dermot McLoughlin (60 Inf Bn) 10 January 1987 28 Inf BnSgt Maj John Fitzgerald (UNIFIL) HQ 24 February 1987 1 Fd Arty RegtCpl George Bolger (61 Inf Bn) 29 August 1987 12 Inf BnGnr Paul Cullen (62 Inf Bn) 17 March 1988 2 Fd Arty RegtPte Patrick Wright (63 Inf Bn) 21 August 1988 27 Inf BnPte Michael McNeela (64 Inf Bn) 24 February 1989 27 Inf BnCpl Fintan Heneghan (64 Inf Bn) 21 March 1989 1 Cn CoisPte Thomas Walsh (64 Inf Bn) 21 March 1989 28 Inf BnPte Mannix Armstrong (64 Inf Bn) 21 March 1989 28 Inf BnSgt Charles Forrester (65 Inf Bn) 21 May 1989 2 Fd Arty RegtComdt Michael O’Hanlon (66 Inf Bn) 21 November 1989 HQ C ComdCpl Michael McCarthy (70 Inf Bn) 15 November 1991 4 Inf BnCpl Peter Ward (71 Inf Bn) 29 September 1992 6 Inf BnCpl Martin Tynan (72 Inf Bn) 13 December 1992 Dep MPCCQMS Declan Stokes (28 Ir Comp) 14 June 1993 Mil ColArmn Stephen O’Connor (73 Inf Bn) 3 October 1993 Air CorpsSgt John Lynch (36 Ir Comp) 6 August 1997 HQ C Comd Pte Michael Dowling (83 Inf Bn) 16 September 1998 30 Inf BnPte Kevin Barrett (84 Inf Bn) 18 February 1999 28 Inf BnPte William Kedian (85 Inf Bn) 31 May 1999 1 Cois Cn Tpr Jonathan Campbell (85 Inf Bn) 5 September 1999 4 Cav Sqn Pte Declan Deere (86 Inf Bn) 14 February 1999 3 Inf BnPte Brendan Fitzpatrick (86 Inf Bn) 14 February 1999 3 Inf BnPte Matthew Lawlor (86 Inf Bn) 14 February 1999 3 Inf BnPte John Murphy (86 Inf Bn) 14 February 1999 3 Inf BnEast Timor/UNTAETPte Peadar Ó Flaithearta (8 Ircon) 15 April 2002 1 Cn CoisLiberia/UNMILSgt Derec Mooney (90 Inf Bn) 27 November 2003 ARW

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p44-53) 21/06/2008 11:48

This period saw the Defence Forces increase itsparticipation with observer missions coupled witha continued involvement with UNIFIL along withour first involvement in a peace-enforcement mis-

sion. It also saw our participation in regionally ledmissions with the EU, NATO and the OSCE.

For the Defence Forces at home, it continued tosupport An Garda Síochána in an “Aid to a CivilPower” role and it took part in a series of reviews,which saw improvements in pay, equipment andaccommodation. As an organisation, the DefenceForces went through a restructuring process and thefirst ever White Paper on Defence was published in1998. In September 1993, the United Nations TrainingSchool Ireland was established with a role of educat-ing Defence Forces and International students inaspects of overseas operations.

Internationally, the biggest change occurred with thebreak-up of the Soviet Union. The fragmentation of theWarsaw Pact and the rush for independence, especiallyin the Balkans posed a serious challenge to the UN.

In the Middle East, the early 1990s saw Israel, Syria,Lebanon, Jordan and the PLO enter into talks withsome agreement between Israel and its neighbours.

Middle EastIn June 1988 the main focus of our overseas commit-ment was UNIFIL. IRISHBATT operated on a six-month rotation with personnel manning static posi-

tions in the Irish Area of Operation (AO) on key van-tage points and roads. Their established day-to-dayrole was to observe and conduct patrols within theirAO, while flying the blue flag. The situation in southLebanon remained tense, with UNIFIL keeping a ten-tative peace between the Israeli-backed militia, theDe Facto Forces (DFF) supported by Israel and theAMAL and Hezbollah, who made attacks onDFF/Israeli positions in the Israel Controlled Area(ICA), established when Israeli forces withdrew in themid-80s, as a buffer zone in south Lebanon, designedto offer protection to north Israel from attack.

In recognition of our role as one of the UN peace-keeping contributing nations, the Nobel Peace Prizewas awarded to the UN in October 1988. In 1989, anew National Peacekeepers Medal was struck andpresented to everyone who served overseas.

During the period, seven Defence Forces preson-nel died (see timeline) while serving with UNIFIL inLebanon. The 66 Inf Bn was the first overseas unit tocarry the issued Steyr 5.56mm Rifle and a total of 20Irish battalions (63 to 82 Inf Bns) rotated between1988 and 1998. A new purpose-built battalion head-quarters (Camp Shamrock) opened in 1994.

In bringing a little bit of Ireland to south Lebanon,musicians, dancers and comedians were brought overduring a battalion’s tour. Service with UNIFIL alwaysdrew an interest from the media; both national andinternational with journalists like Paul Williams and


1988M – Gnr Paul Cullen


g 2 – Pte PatrickWright dies on active servicein Lebanon.

1989eb 2 – Solicitor PatFinucane shot dead in Belfast.eb 2 – Pte MichaelMcNeela dies on active serv-ice in Lebanon.

M 2 – Cpl FintanHeneghan, Ptes ThomasWalsh and Mannix Armstrongdie on active service inLebanon.

M Sgt CharlesForrester dies on active serv-ice in Lebanon.

June – Brig Gen J Enrightappointed Chief MilitaryObserver UNMOGIP.e e ber 2 – Canadian100m Olympic winner BenJohnson fails drug test andloses his gold medal.

Oc ber 9 – Latvians protestfor independence from theSoviet Union.

No e ber 2 – ComdtMichael O’Hanlon dies onactive service in Lebanon.

e e d – US and Sovietleaders announce the end ofthe Cold War at a summit inMalta.

e be 2 – 258 people dieas jumbo jet explodes overScottish town of Lockerbie.e e be 2 – Romanianpresident Nicolae Ceausescuand his wife shot for crimesagainst the state.

1990eb – NelsonMandela freed from SouthAfrican prison after 27 years.

Ap i – UK Customs seizepart of a ‘Supergun’ bound forIraq.

e 0 – Irish soccer teamreach World Cup Quarter-finals, but lose 1-0 to Italy.

A g 2 – Iraq invadesKuwait.

A g 24 – Irish hostageBrian Keenan released inBeirut after more than fouryears in captivity. o e be – Mary Robinsonelected President of Ireland.

1988 to 199by SGT DAVID NAGLE

…The fragmentation of the Warsaw Pact and therush for independence,especially in the Balkansposed a serious challengeto the UN.

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p44-53) 21/06/2008 11:48


…the local populationin south Lebanon hadto deal with the tit-for-tat battlesbetween theAMAL/Hezbollah andthe Israelis and its DFF militia.

998LE

1988 T

O 1

998Robert Fisk visiting the Irish AO. But as the entertain-

ers came and went, one lady in particular had a spe-cial place in the soldier’s heart. RTÉ reporter TreasaDavison was a regular visitor to Lebanon, as she trav-elled around the Irish posts recording message forfamilies at home.

Though peace talks did go on between Israel andits Arab neighbours, UNIFIL and the local populationin south Lebanon had to deal with the tit-for-tat bat-tles between the AMAL/Hezbollah and the Israelisand its DFF militia.

In April 1996, Israel launched an offensive “Grapesof Wrath” into Lebanon in response to Hezbollahrocket attacks in the ICA and north Israel. During theoffensive, a UN Fijian compound was bombed and 110civilians sheltering in the compound died. Followinginternational condemnation, Israel, Lebanon andSyria agreed a ceasefire on April 26th. During theoffensive, the troops of the 80 Inf Bn and the Irish offi-cers serving with Observer Group Lebanon (OGL) inUNTSO, continued to man their positions, providingshelter and humanitarian assistance during theIsraeli campaign.

When not on duty, sport would play a big part with-in the battalion’s life, with the battalion soccer, hurl-ing and Gaelic football tournaments well attended.Also, every opportunity was taken to organise inter-contingent sporting events.

The Irish troops took on numerous humanitarianprojects, with, the Tibnine Orphanage being afavourite, though each company would have its ownlocal project. The battalion chaplain was usually thepoint of co-ordination with regards to such schemesto raise money, either through raffles, quizzes anddonations from home. The Irish contingents receivedfunds from the Irish government for humanitarianprojects during their tour.

At the same time, Defence Forces personnel con-tinued their involvement in the Middle East withUNTSO, UNDOF and UNFICYP. The latter saw MajGen Michael Minehane become Force CommanderUNFICYP in April 1992 until August 1994.

New Missions – Middle EastIn 1988 and 1992, two Irish officers served with theUnited Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) inBeirut. It worked with the Palestinian refugeesthroughout the Middle East, providing education,health, relief and social work.

Then in August 1988 following the ceasefire thatended the Iran-Iraq War, the United Nations Iran-IraqMilitary Observer Group (UNIIMOG) deployedobservers along the 800km ceasefire line. In October,a 37-strong Irish Military Police contingent joined the15 Irish observers and our commitment (177 in total)ended in March 1991.

Following the Gulf War in 1991, 69 Defence Forcespersonnel served with the United Nations Iraq-KuwaitObservation Mission (UNIKOM) from April 1991 on theUN manned ceasefire line between Iraq and Kuwait.Observers and troops were drawn from UNIFIL andUNFICYP to established OPs and conduct patrolsalong the Khar Abdullah waterway and the DMZ (200kmlong and 15km wide). UNIKOM withdrew in 2003, leav-ing a small HQ element stationed in Kuwait City.

From September 1997 and March 2003, five officersserved with United Nations Special Commission

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p44-53) 21/06/2008 11:49

ment agreed to contribute.As the situation deteriorated, the UN passed a

resolution invoking Chapter VII of the UN Charter,changing it to a peace-enforcement mission. Thiscaused the delay in the Irish deployment, as the Dailpassed the legislation, allowing Irish troops to partic-ipate in such missions.

In the meantime, UNOSCOM II was sidelined bythe US-led 37,000-strong contingent that stabilisedthe situation, before handing over to the UN in May1993. On June 5th, 24 Pakistani UNOSOM troops werekilled in fighting with Aideed’s clan, and in October 18US Rangers, operating independently of UNOSOM,were killed. US forces pulled out in March 1994.

In August 1993, 1 Tpt Coy flew in from Irelandequipped with 40-plus vehicles. They based them-selves at their compound, Camp Shannon in Baidoa,177 miles from Mogadishu. Their main task was ferry-ing supplies for the French brigade (later Indian)based in the Baidoa region.

The weekly convoy to Mogadishu, where all sup-plies arrived, was a dangerous affair. Even in the wakeof an October 1993 ceasefire, attacks on convoys werea regular occurrence. In one such attack during 2 TptCoy’s tour, a gun battle between the Indian escort anda large group of bandits left 11 attackers dead.

In September 1994, the Irish contingent withdrew,although Lt Col Dorcha Lee remained until the mis-sion ended in January 1995 with 177 Defence Forcespersonnel having served.

Africa was always a focal point for both Irish andInternational relief efforts, with the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) sending in per-sonnel and supplies. In 1993, following a request forvolunteers, the Defence Forces allowed individual sol-diers to work with GOAL, Concern and ICRC inAfrica. Though working alone and in a civilian struc-ture, the volunteers brought their experience andexpertise with them as they served in numerous reliefefforts throughout Africa.

In August 1994, 39 personnel deployed to Rwandaas part of the Irish Rwanda Support Group (IRSG). Atthe time, Rwanda was in the mist of a civil war, withacts of genocide and thousand of people fleeing thefighting. The IRSG was an unarmed mission, with sol-diers acting as civilians, though as an organisedgroup under the aegis of the United Nations HighCommission for Refugees. Operating out of theirbase in Goma, Zaire the contingent of engineers,logistics and transport specialists assisted in the dis-tribution of humanitarian relief to thousands of starv-ing people. President Mary Robinson in October visit-ed the mission and saw at firsthand the efforts ofIRSG volunteers, who returned home in Decemberthat year.

AmericasApart from our mission at UN headquarters in NewYork, the Defence Forces contributed to three UN mis-sion in Central America and the region. Following inde-pendence from Spain, Central America, after a briefperiod broke up into Costa Rica, El Salvador,Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Numerous fac-tions fought guerrilla wars and there was also interfer-ence by governments in their neighbours’ affairs and attimes from the two superpowers. The five governmentsheld meetings to increase economic co-operation and


(UNSCOM) with a mission to supervise the destruc-tion and rendering harmless Iraq’s weapons of massdestruction (WMD). In December 1998, UNSCOMwithdrew from Iraq and was replaced (in December1999) by the United Nations Monitoring Verificationand Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC).

Former Chief of Staff Lt Gen Dave Stapletonserved as Force Commander of the United NationsDisengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) on theGolan Heights from June 1997 and August 1998.

AfricaIn March 1989, the Defence Forces got a chance toserve in Africa again, 25 years since the Congo mis-sion. The Defence Forces committed 20 observers intotal to the United Nations Transition AssistanceGroup (UNTAG). In November 1988 Cuba, Angola,South Africa and the United States eventually agreedto a Cuban withdraw from Angola. UNTAG’s taskedwas to ensure Namibian independence through freeelections and the mission ended in April 1990.

Following a peace deal between the Angolan andUNITA rebels, the Second United Nations AngolaVerification Mission (UNAVEM II) was created. UNobservers including Irish officers (joined in July 1991)attended the joint Angolan/UNITA commission meet-ings, established to implement the peace accord. Theyalso observed the joint Government/UNITA monitor-ing groups and assisted in the investigation of allegedceasefire violations. 18 Irish served with the missionand this ended in September 1993.

Next came the United Nations Mission for theReferendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). WhenSpain left in the mid-1970s, Polisario, a nationalistmovement, proclaimed an independent state, theSaharwi Arab Democratic Republic. Polisario wasbacked by Algeria, but Mauritania and Morocco bothclaimed the territory and sent troops in. Moroccooccupied the north and the Mauritanians invaded thesouth, but suffered defeat against the Polisarioforces. Following a coup in 1977, Mauritaniarenounced its claim to the territory and Moroccoannexed the former Mauritanian zone.

By 1985, Morocco had constructed a 1,400km longwall from sand, rock and rubble for protection.Polisario forces were unable to breach the wall and aceasefire was agreed by the early-90s with the territo-ry named Western Sahara. MINURSO personneldeployed on both sides of the wall and carried patrols(vehicle and air) to monitor the ceasefire. Over 142Irish officers have served with MINURSO sinceSeptember 1991.

The next Defence Forces deployment was withtroops, this time with a more robust mandate. In 1990,Somalia’s President Barre was ousted by a looseband of clans, who soon fell out with each other.Vicious inter-clan fighting broke out and it led to thedeaths of 30,000 Somalis, in addition to the estimated200,000 who died of famine.

Aid agencies trying to alleviate the effects of thefamine were unable to operate in Somalia because oflooting and the murder of aid workers. In January1992, the Second United Nations Operations inSomalia (UNOSOM II) was established. The initialforce strength was inadequate and it was only after avisit by Ireland’s Foreign Minister David Andrews andPresident Mary Robinson to Somalia, that the govern-

1991J – US, British,

French, Saudi and Kuwait air-craft bomb key military sites inIraq.

Feb 2 – Gulf War endsafter Iraq accepts all UN reso-lutions.

h 4 – Birmingham Sixreleased from UK prison after16 years.

e 2 – Yugoslav troopsswept into the republic ofSlovenia, 48 hours after itdeclared independence.

– Defence Forces personneldeploy with EUMM.

3 – US and Soviets agreeto cut their nuclear arsenals bya third.

g – Soviet hardlinersstage failed coup againstPresident Gorbachev.

Se e e – Defence Forcespersonnel deploy with MIN-URSO to western Sahara.

No e be – Cpl MichaelMcCarthy dies on active serv-ice in Lebanon.o embe 8 – Terry Waitefreed in Beirut after four yearsin captivity.

1992eb – Maastricht Treatysigned by Ireland.e a – Albert Reynolds TDappointed An Taoiseach.

– Cpl Michael Carruth winsGold Medal for boxing atBarcelona Olympics.

g – Serbian prisons inBosnia are condemned by inter-national community.

Se e be 2 – Cpl PeterWard dies on active service inLebanon.

No e be – Bill Clintonwins US Presidential elections.e e e 9 – US Marinesland in Somalia.

e be – Cpl MartinTynan dies on active service inLebanon.

When Spain left in themid-1970s, Polisario, anationalist movement,proclaimed an independent state, theSaharwi ArabDemocratic Republic.Polisario was backed byAlgeria, but Mauritaniaand Morocco bothclaimed the territory…

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p44-53) 24/06/2008 10:13

to end the regional disputes. The United NationsObserver Group in Central America (ONUCA) wassetup to verify the ending of aid to irregular forces andattacks by one state on another. In December 1989,Irish personnel (57 in total) deployed serving asobservers between their headquarters in Hondurasand in 33 verification centres throughout the region.The mission ended in January 1992.

When ONUCA ended, its personnel moved to theUnited Nations Observer Mission in El Salvador(ONUSAL) in El Salvador. Following a peace dealbetween the El Salvadorian government and theCuban-backed FMLN rebels, ONUSAL role was tooversee the reduction of the El Salvadorian Army andto verify that the FMLN became a legitimate politicalparty and destroyed its weaponry. With its missioncomplete, Irish commitment, (six in total) ended inMay 1994.

Haiti, ruled by the Duvalier dynasty since 1957,erupted into conflict in 1986 following the overthrowof the dynasty. In the first successful democraticelections in 1990, Fr Jean-Bertand Aristide was elect-ed president. But he was ousted by Haitian Army per-sonnel, led by Lt Gen Raoul Cedras and human rightsabuses soared, causing a steady exodus of Haitiansto the nearby US.

The United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH) wasestablished in 1993, but did not fully deploy becauseof the non-cooperation from the Haitian military.After the US succeeded in getting Cedras to standdown, an American Task Force entered Haiti inSeptember 1994 and handed over to the UN shortlyafterwards. Six Irish officers served with UNMIH untilMarch 1996. Their tasks included assisting Haiti’sdemocratic government in protecting key installationsand raising the professionalism of the Haitian armedand police forces. Following parliamentary and localelections, the mission ended in June 1996.

AsiaEight Irish officers drawn from UNTSO, UNDOF andUNIFIL served from April 1988 to March 1990 withUnited Nations Goods Offices Mission inAfghanistan and Pakistan (UNGOMAP). A peacedeal between the US, the Soviet Union, Afghanistanand Pakistan brought an end to the Soviet occupationof Afghanistan and UNGOMAP’s task was to observethe withdrawal of Soviet forces. By March 1990 thewithdrawal was completed and UNGOMAP was dis-banded, when the Office of the Secretary General inAfghanistan and Pakistan (OSGA-P) took over.

This mission was designed to help the Afghanpeople find a solution to their own problems.OSGAPs Military Advisory Unit (MAU) comprised ofone officer from each of ten contributing countries.Again these were drawn from UNTSO, UNDOF andUNIFIL and the first head of the MAU was IrishmanCol Patrick Nowlan. Their job was to advise theSecretary-General Personal Representative on allmilitary matters. The MAU operated from Islamabadand Kabul, when in 1994, OSGA-P was renamedOSGA and its headquarters was moved to Jalalabad,Afghanistan. Five Irish officers served with OSGA-Puntil December 1994 and two officers served withOSGA until July 1996.

Again in Afghanistan, three Irish officers servedbetween July 1996 and October 1999 with the United


1993e 26 – Bombing rocksWorld Trade Centre in NewYork.

t – UN makes Bosniantown of Srebrenica a safe havento protect it from Bosnian Serbforces.

e 4 – CQMS DeclanStokes dies on active service inLebanon.

g – 1 Tpt Coy UNOSOM IIdeploy to Somalia. e e e 13th – Israeli PrimeMinister Yitzak Rabin and PLOLeader Yasser Arafat shakehands on peace deal at theWhite House.

O be d – Armn StephenO’Connor dies on active serv-ice in Lebanon.

O obe – Five US soldiersand two helicopters shot downin fierce fighting in theSomalia’s capital, Mogadishu.

Dece e – Irish andBritish governments sign TheJoint Declaration to end 25years of violence in NorthernIreland.

1994e – Mortar bomb kills68 people at market in Sarajevo.

– Ethnic violencespreads throughout Rwanda.

0 – Nelson Mandelabecomes South AfricanPresident.

3 – IRA announce aceasefire to its armed struggle.

O obe – Loyalists inNorthern Ireland announceceasefire.

O obe 26 – Israel and Jordansign peace treaty after 46 yearsof hostilities.

De e e – John Bruton TDappointed An Taoiseach.

Dece e – Hugh CoveneyTD appointed Minister forDefence.

A peace deal betweenthe US, the Soviet Union,Afghanistan andPakistan brought an endto the Soviet occupationof Afghanistan andUNGOMAP’s task was toobserve the withdrawalof Soviet forces.

1988 T

O 1

998

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p44-53) 21/06/2008 11:49

Military Liaison Office in Yugoslavia (UNMLO-Y) wasestablished. With officers drawn from UNTSO andUNIKOM, they operated at the headquarters of bothsides along the peace-line and their role was toenhance communications between both sides and toseek information on alleged ceasefire breaches.

With United Nations Protection Force (UNPRO-FOR) setup, UNMLO-Y was disbanded.

Initially established in Croatia to ensure demilita-rization of designated areas, UNPROFOR’s mandatewas extended to cover Bosnia Herzegovina, to sup-port humanitarian relief and to monitor ‘no fly’ zonesand safe areas. The mandate was later extended tothe Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)for preventive monitoring in border areas. Over 36Irish officers operated with both missions betweenJanuary 1992 and January 1996.

Four Irish officers between December 1992 andMarch 1993 assisted with the movement of aid con-voys with the United Nations High Commission forRefugees in Yugoslavia (UNHCR-Y) in the formerYugoslavia under very difficult circumstances.

In February 1996, the United Nations PreventiveDeployment Force (UNPREDEP) took over UNPRO-FOR, to monitor the border between Albania and theFYROM. The mission ended when China vetoed itsextension in February 1999. Eight Irish served with themission.

Between February 1996 and December 1999, theDefence Forces sent ten observers to the UnitedNations Military Observer Mission in Prevlaka(UNMOP). This mission was established to monitorthe demilitarisation of the Prevlaka peninsula, an areadisputed by Croatia and the Federal Republic ofYugoslavia (FRY).

Ten Irish officers served with the United NationsAuthority in Eastern Slovenia (UNTAES) betweenFebruary 1996 and January 1998. This mission was cre-ated to oversee the re-integration of EasternSlovenia, Baranja and Sirmium into Croatia after the


Nations Special Mission in Afghanistan (UNSMA).Its role was to encourage dialogue between the war-ring Taliban and the Northern Alliance. In 2004 themission was amalgamated with the United NationsOffice for the Co-ordination of HumanitarianAssistance to Afghanistan.

From June 1989 to June 1992, Brig Gen J Enrightwas Chief Military Observer United Nations MilitaryObserver Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP).

Next came Cambodia, which by the early 1990s wasravaged by two decades of war, regimes of terror andintense periods of famine. In October 1991, with theco-operation of the UN and the Association of SouthEast Asia Nations, the conflicting parties in Cambodiasigned the Paris Peace Agreement. This saw theestablishment of the United Nations TransitionalAuthority in Cambodia (UNTAC) in March 1992.However, when Cambodia’s transitional governmentrequested UN assistance to fill the interim fourmonths, the UN establishing the United NationsAdvanced Mission in Cambodia (UNAMIC) inNovember 1991 to assist in the process, until UNTACcould be deployed. UNTAC had an all-encompassingmandate that included aspects on human rights, theconduct of free elections, military arrangements, civiladministration, maintenance of law and order, repatri-ation of refugees and the rehabilitation of essentialinfrastructures.

UNAMIC’s military component was to facilitatecommunications between the military headquarters ofthe Cambodian parties in matters relating to theobservance of the ceasefire and the establishment amine awareness group and a Mixed Military WorkingGroup. Irish involvement (38 in total) ended in 1993.

EuropeWith the ending of the Cold War, the Soviet Union andits satellites clamoured for independence. In particu-lar the break up of Yugoslavia saw Defence Forcespersonnel participate in a variety of missions-types,all designed to end conflict in the Balkans.

Since 1984, Irish officers (over 173 in total) haveserved with the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in the Balkans, Georgiaand at OSCE HQ in Vienna. OSCE was created in theearly-70s, as a mechanism to secure resolution of con-flicts and the protection of human rights throughpeaceful dialogue, as outline in the Helsinki Act(1975). Throughout the Balkans (and Georgia), OSCEestablished missions in Bosnia, Croatia, FRY, FYROMand Kosovo. The Irish military staff that served withOSCE operated in an unarmed civilian role and theybrought a wealth of experience in relation to develop-ment the organisation’s early warning, crisis manage-ment and post-conflict rehabilitation.

With the break up of Yugoslavia right on itsdoorstep, the European Union (formerly EuropeanCommunity) deployed a monitoring mission, designat-ed EUMM to the Balkans in 1991. Again similar to theOSCE (unarmed and in a white uniform), Irish person-nel have operated with the EUMM since 1991. They actas an early warning system for the EU and assist inthe emerging states in the development of democraticstructures. To date over 224 Defence Forces personnelhave served with the mission.

In late 1991 following the ceasefire between thewarring Serbia and Croatia, the United Nations

1995A i 9 – A car bomb

explodes in Oklahoma Citykilling 80 people.

M y 2 r – Seán Barrett TDappointed Minister forDefence

1t – Bosnian Serb armyseized UN safe area ofSrebrenica after Dutch peace-keepers withdraw.

Se e e 2 – Israel andPLO sign deal in Washingtongiving Palestinians controlover much of the West Bank.

N e ber 4 – Israeli PrimeMinister Yitzhak Rabin assas-sinated.e – Bosnia, Serbiaand Croatia sign the DaytonAccord in Paris to end to theBalkans war.

1996eb r 9 – IRA end cease-fire with explosion in London’sdocklands.

i 1 – Israeli Air Forcebomb Hezbollah position inBeirut.

9 – Bosnian SerbPresident Radovan Karadzicresigns from office.

Se e e 2 – Taleban seizethe Afghan capital, Kabul afterfierce fighting.

N e be – US PresidentBill Clinton wins second termin office.

1997J e – Bertie Ahern TD appoint-

ed An Taoiseach.J e – Lt Gen David Stapleton

DSM appointed ForceCommander UNDOF.

e – David Andrews TDappointed Minister forDefence.

A – Sgt John Lynchdies on active service inLebanon.

A g t – Princess Dianadies in car crash in Paris.

Oc e t – Michael Smith TDappointed Minister forDefence

N ve e h – MaryMcAleese becomes Presidentof Ireland.e em e 2 – Loyalist BillyWright shot dead in the Mazeprison.

1998u – Defence Forces per-

sonnel deploy with OSCE toCroatia. e – ComedianDermot Morgan dies.

A i – The Good FridayAgreement announced. e e ber 6 – Pte MichaelDowling dies on active servicein Lebanon.

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p44-53) 21/06/2008 11:49


Overseas Units Unit To/Form Commander

64 Inf Bn November to April 1989 Lt Col P McMahon65 Inf Bn May to October 1989 Lt Col MG Bohan66 Inf Bn November to April 1990 Lt Col V Blythe67 Inf Bn May to October 1990 Lt Col W Egar68 Inf Bn November to April 1991 Lt Col C Mangan69 Inf Bn May to October 1991 Lt Col F Colclough70 Inf Bn November to April 1992 Lt Col E Heskin71 Inf Bn May to October 1992 Lt Col D Taylor72 Inf Bn November to April 1993 Lt Col R Campion73 Inf Bn May to October 1993 Lt Col J Martin74 Inf Bn November to April 1994 Lt Col M Canavan75 Inf Bn May to October 1994 Lt Col D O‘Regan76 Inf Bn November to April 1995 Lt Col P Sreenan77 Inf Bn May to October 1995 Lt Col F Swords78 Inf Bn November to April 1996 Lt Col M Lucey79 Inf Bn May to October 1996 Lt Col G McNamara80 Inf Bn November to April 1997 Lt Col P O‘Sullivan81 Inf Bn May to October 1997 Lt Col D Earley82 Inf Bn November to April 1998 Lt Col C Doyle

NOSO1 Tpt Coy August to February 1994 Comdt M O’Donoghue2 Tpt Coy March to August 1995 Comdt D Conway

1988 T

O 1

998Balkans wars. Observers ensured the demilitarisation

of the region and provide security for the InternationalCriminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY),who where carrying out mass grave exhumations.

In May 1997, the Defence Forces sent a 50-strongMP Contingent, to the UN-mandated NATO-led mis-sion, designated Stabilisation Force (SFOR). SFORtook over from Implementation Force (IFOR), whichwas set up in 1995 after the Dayton PeaceAgreements at the end of the war in BosniaHerzegovina. SFOR replaced IFOR in December 1996,with a mandate to deter the resumption of hostilities,promoting a climate conducive to the peace processand providing support to civilian organisations.

The Irish MP Coy HQ, MP Pln and NationalSupport Element was based in SFOR HQ in Sarajevoand policed the 8,000 SFOR troops based in the area.The Irish MP Coy was withdrawn in January 2003,with 12 Irish personnel remaining at SFOR HQ.

In December 2004, SFOR ended with 636 Irish hav-ing served and it was replaced by a EU-led mission,Operation ‘Althea’.

Now called EUFOR BiH, Defence Forces person-nel continue to serve in Bosnia.

ConclusionBy the Summer of 1998, the Defence Forces was stillsending a battalion to UNIFIL, a MP Coy to SFORand had soldiers now serving in a variety of UN-man-dated missions, either with the UN, EU, OSCE orNATO. At home, the Defence Forces went through aprocess of reorganisation and modernisation. Ourparticipation on overseas missions was a key strate-gic output in relation to Defence and Foreign policy.The Irish peacekeepers proved that they were verycapable in taking on the new challenges of peaceenforcement or working either as an NGO or in a EU,NATO or OSCE mission.■

The Irish peacekeepersproved that they werevery capable in takingon the new challengesof peace enforcementworking either as anNGO or in a EU, NATO orOSCE mission.

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p44-53) 24/06/2008 10:14

Speaking in the Dáil in 1963, five years after Irelandhad commenced its first peacekeeping mission inLebanon, President John F Kennedy remarked that“from Cork to the Congo, from Galway to the Gaza

Strip, from this legislative assembly to the UnitedNations in New York, Ireland is sending its most talent-ed men and women to do the world’s most importantwork – the work of peace”. As we now review the mostrecent decade in Ireland’s 50 years of unbroken peace-keeping one cannot help but form the opinion that themore things change the more they stay the same.

Irish soldiers remain deployed throughout the worlddoing the world’s most dangerous work, striving tobring peace and stability to communities who in theirrecent history have known nothing but conflict, vio-lence, displacement, malnutrition and hopelessness.We know that this is a noble undertaking because Irishpeacekeepers have been awarded the Nobel PeacePrize for their work; but appreciating the nobility ofyour effort only gets you so far. The rest of it comesfrom continuing to put boots on the ground, interfacingwith warlords and legitimate leaders alike, and takingrisks on behalf of those who are most in need of assis-tance. So when we look then at this last decade we seeseveral new deployments in new missions where wehave employed the same peacekeeping principles andmethods that have served us so well in the past. In thatcontext, and in order to review the last ten years, notsurprisingly we start with Lebanon.


1998r – The Good Friday

Agreement heralds a new era ofpeace in Northern Ireland.

A g – Lt Gen David Stapletonappointed Chief of Staff.

A g – 29 killed in Omaghbombing.e e be – Pte MichaelDowling dies on active service inLebanon.

Se b 2 – Thousands fleefighting in Kosovo.

O - Ireland signs upfor the United Nations StandbyArrangement System (UNSAS).

No e e t – Minister forDefence presents the MilitaryStar (medal) to the families ofsoldiers killed in action over-seas.

1999J – UN General-Secretary

Kofi Annan visits the UNTSI,Curragh Camp.

J – An TaoiseachBertie Ahern TD makes four-dayvisit to troops serving withUNIFIL and UNTSO. e y h – Pte Kevin Barrettdies on active service inLebanon.

M 2 h – NATO commencesair strikes over Serbia andKosovo.

– Pte Billy Kedian dieson active service in Lebanon.ep e be 5 – Tpr JonathonCampbell dies on active servicein Lebanon.

O t ARW contingent joinsINTERFET mission in EastTimor.

O tobe – Irish Tpt Coy joinsKFOR mission in Kosovo.

No e be – Maj Gen J Viseappointed Force CommanderUNIKOM.

De – Ireland joinsPartnership for Peace (PfP).

De e e 5t – Naval Servicevessel LÉ Roisin (P51) commis-sioned.e e ber – New Year’s revellers toast the new millennium.

LebanonBy 1998 the conflict in Lebanon had crystallised intoopen conventional warfare between Hezbollah on oneside and the Israeli army (IDF) on the other. The 1996April Understanding did not achieve peace. Rather, itsimply ensured that neither party to the conflictwould deliberately target civilians or UN positions.After that they could do more or less what they want-ed - and do it they did. However, as 1999 drew to aclose it was obvious that the balance of power was

Irish soldiers remaindeployed throughoutthe world doing theworld’s most danger-ous work, striving tobring peace and sta-bility to communitieswho in their recenthistory have knownnothing but conflict,violence, displace-ment, malnutritionand hopelessness.

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p54-64) 21/06/2008 12:11

shifting. Utilising TOW missiles supplied by Iranthrough Syria, Hezbollah upped the ante and whenPrime Minister Ehud Barak succumbed to politicalpressure at home and agreed to withdraw the IDF thegame was effectively up. In May 2000 UNIFIL watchedas the IDF conducted a tactical withdrawal fromLebanon, the South Lebanon Army (SLA/DFF) col-lapsed, and Hezbollah fighters rushed in to claim thespoils of war. Thereafter Brig Gen Jim Sreenan,together with a number of other Irish officers, com-menced the torturous work of drawing the Blue Linebetween Lebanon and Israel, and thereafter certifiedthat UN Security Council Resolution 425 of 1978 hadfinally been complied with.

After so many years working for peace inLebanon, and taking so many casualties in the courseof that pursuit, it was fitting that Ireland would play asignificant part in this process and bring closure toour longstanding commitment to the poor people ofSouth Lebanon.

Unfortunately, Hezbollah did not see fit to closethis chapter completely and on October 7th 2000attacked again across the Blue Line into Israel.Instead of robustly responding to this violation theInternational Community chose appeasement andthereby indicated a certain toleration of what hadtaken place. This failure set the tone for the comingyears and ongoing cross-border violations continuedintermittently.

As UNIFIL downsized it was decided to endIreland’s 23-year involvement in the region and in 2001‘IRISHBATT’ finally came home when 89 Inf Bn fin-ished its tour of duty.

However, the ‘relative peace’ was destined not tolast and matters again came to a head in July 2006when Hezbollah again launched another unprovoked


1998 T

O 2

00

8

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p54-64) 21/06/2008 12:04


attack across the Blue Line and the incident devel-oped into what became known as the ‘Summer War’,which claimed the lives of over 1,200 Lebanese and300 Israeli civilians.

The UN decided to reinforce the UNIFIL missionand in response to a request from the UN SecurityCouncil, Ireland returned one more time to Lebanonas part of a Finn/Irish battalion and remained therefor a twelve-month period, based this time near thetown of Ebel es Saqi.

The ‘new’ UNIFIL has a hard edge comprised ofmechanised brigades from Spain and Italy with aFrench tank battalion in reserve based in the oldIRISHBATT area of operations. UNIFIL positions donot look like the old days; today they are massive for-tified encampments reminiscent of another time whenCrusaders travelled through the land, and it remainsuncertain whether this huge international securitypresence, now numbering in excess of 10,000 soldiers,will ultimately have any impact on those who live inthe region and remain entirely focused on their ownlong term political and military objectives.

Sadly, while our contribution to Lebanon withground forces is now at an end we can only say thatwe probably left the place in a marginally better con-dition than that in which we first found it. In Lebanonthe only certainty is that the more things change themore they will definitely stay the same, and in allprobability another round of fighting is destined toerupt in the not too distant future.

KosovoOur contribution to international peace and securityduring this period was not exclusively confined to theMiddle East. In 1999, following the NATO air bom-bardment of Serbia, Ireland became part of theNATO/PfP KFOR mission to Kosovo, which beganwith 50,000 troops provided by 36 contributingnations. Our initial contribution consisted of a trans-port company, based at Camp Clark at Lipljan 15km

2000J – Irish officers appoint-

ed to ESDP/PfP in Brussels. – Disruptive Pattern

Material (DPM) uniforms goon general issue.e y h – Ptes DeclanDeere, Brendan Fitzpatrick,Matthew Lawler and JohnMurphy die on active service inLebanon.

M 2 – Hezbollah makegains in Lebanon.

J 6 – Lt Gen Colm Manganappointed Chief of Staff.

O er – PresidentSlobodan Milosevic of theFederal Republic of Yugoslaviaresigns.

emb – Irish troops joinUNMEE mission in Ethopiaand Eritrea.e e e 3 – GovernorGeorge Bush elected USPresident.

2001e y 6 – Ariel Sharonbecomes Israel’s PrimeMinister.

r 15 – Pte Peadar ÓFlaithearta dies on active serv-ice in East Timor.

J e – Defence Forces accept itsfirst batch of Mowag APCs.e e be – Twin Towerscollapse after terrorist attack.

A – DR Eileen Doyleappointed chairperson to lookat bullying in the DefenceForces.e be – Naval Servcievessel LÉ Niamh (P52) com-missioned.

O – US warplanesbomb Talaben targets inAfghanistan.

O o e 2 d – IRA beginsdecommissioning its weapons.

2002J y 1 t – The Euro becomes

the currency of 12 EU coun-tries, including Ireland.

A l – Maj Gen Carl Doddbecomes Chief of StaffUNTSO.

J h – Defence Forces per-sonnel join ISAF inAfghanistan.

2003e – Space shuttleColumbia explodes after takeoffkilling seven astronauts.

J – Defence Forces personneltake part in EU missionOperation Artemis in theDemocratic Republic of Congo.

O obe – LÉ Niamh dropsoff Army reconnaissance inMonrovia, Liberia.

N em e – Brig Gen BobFitzgerald appointed Chief ofStaff UNMIL.

No e be – 90 Inf Bn deploys toUNMIL in Liberia.

No e e 2 – Sgt DerecMooney dies on active servicein Liberia.

De e er t – SaddamHussein captured.

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p54-64) 21/06/2008 12:04


south of Pristina and part of Multi-National BrigadeCentre.

In October 2003 this unit was replaced by a mecha-nised infantry group and Irish troops stood firm duringserious rioting in Gracanica in March 2004. The Multi-National Brigade Centre has now transformed itselfinto Multi-National Task Force Centre (MNTF-C), ofwhich Brig Gen Gerry Hegarty was appointed TaskForce Commander in 2007. The change to a mecha-nised infantry unit was an historic occasion for theDefence Forces and indicated the manner in which ourpeacekeeping doctrine and practice has evolved sincethose tentative steps in Lebanon back in 1958.

LiberiaHowever, without doubt the most significant deploy-ment for the Defence Forces within the past ten yearshas been our contribution to the UNMIL mission inLiberia, where in November 2003 Ireland joined a15,000-strong mission mandated by UN SecurityCouncil Resolution 1509.

On this occasion we deployed a mechanised bat-talion in partnership with a Swedish mechanised com-pany, together forming UNMIL’s Quick Reaction Force(QRF). Based 10kms north of the capital, Monrovia,the QRF quickly became recognised as a force to bereckoned with as the combined unit patrolled thecountry in its Mowag APCs and CV90 IFVs.

When serious rioting erupted in Monrovia inNovember 2004 the QRF played a crucial role inquelling the violence and thereafter provided themuch needed stability that facilitated a return todemocratic government and the election of EllenJohnson Serleaf as Liberia’s President.

In fact, the effectiveness of the QRF in Liberia hasbeen instrumental in changing UN peacekeeping doc-trine. Following numerous evaluations of the militarycomponent of UNMIL it has been recommended andaccepted that all future UN deployments should con-tain a QRF based on the Irish/Swedish Liberian Model.In the context of latter day international peacekeepingthis development is extremely noteworthy and reflectsthe reality that Ireland is no longer a mere participantin peacekeeping missions but also influences the evo-lution of future UN peacekeeping doctrine.

1998 T

O 2

00

8

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p54-64) 21/06/2008 12:04

transit camps along the border with Sudan. The cli-mate is severe, the conditions extremely difficult, andlogistic re-supply a military nightmare. Nevertheless,the Defence Forces have embraced the opportunityand after detailed planning at the Operational HQ inParis, which is commanded by Lt Gen Pat Nash andmanned by several Irish officers and NCOs, we arenow postured to undertake what everyone accepts willbe our most difficult mission yet.

We have come along way since 1958 and 85 of ourcolleagues have paid the ultimate price in the serviceof international peace. However, that sacrifice has notbeen in vain and we have learned well from everyexperience encountered during the past 50 years.

Other MissionsThroughout the last decade we have also suppliedpersonnel to the SFOR mission in Bosnia as itchanged into a monitoring and verification mission.

Our observers continue to man observation postsin Lebanon, the Golan Heights, Congo, Ivory Coastand Western Sahara, and in November 2000 an Irishguard and administrative component deployed to theUNMEE mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea, completing630 tours of duty before our participation ended inJune 2003.

Irish soldiers have also served in East Timor,Afghanistan, FYROM, Iraq, Kuwait, Pakistan, Cyprusand New York and this combined effort has ensuredthat Ireland continues to punch above its weight whenit comes to international peacekeeping.

Addressing a parade in McKee Bks in October2004 the then Secretary General of the UnitedNations, Kofi Anan, was quite clear in his evaluationof Irish peacekeepers, “Today,” he said, “one of ourmost pressing needs is for highly trained specialisedunits to act as force multipliers in helping us carry outthe complex and difficult work of contemporarypeacekeeping. Ireland responds to that need by pro-viding the United Nations with highly skilled units,one of which is now serving in Liberia.”

“In doing so,” he stated, “Ireland sets an exampleto our European Union partners, and to the widerworld, of genuine commitment to the most difficulttasks of United Nations Peacekeeping.”

ConclusionIn 2008 the Defence Forces are focused on a newpeacekeeping deployment that poses challenges andopportunities never encountered before. A mecha-nised battalion has just deployed to Chad in order toprovide a safe and secure environment for thousandsof refugees and displaced people who occupy several


2004e 2 – Lt Gen JimSreenan appointed Chief ofStaff.

c – 170 killed inMadrid train bombing.e e be 29 – Mr WillieO’Dea becomes Minister forDefence

N e e 1 – PLO leaderYasser Arafat dies.

2005A 2 – Pope John Paul II

dies.A r 2 – Syrian troops leave

Lebanon.J 2 – IRA declares end to

armed struggle.e e be t – Paulyn MarrinanQuinn SC appointedOmbudsman for the DefenceForces.

2006M 29 h – Irish troops pro-

vide security for FormerLiberian President CharlesTaylor move to the UN SpecialCourt in Sierra Leone.

O o e – ‘Soldiers andChief’ exhibit opens in NationalMuseum of Ireland Collins Bks,Dublin.

O ober – 34 Inf Gp UNIFILdeploy to Lebanon.

2007J a y – Mr Ban Ki-moon

appointed UN Secretary-General.

A – Lt Gen Dermot Earleyappointed Chief of Staff.

M – 96 Inf Bn UNMILreturn to Ireland.

– Brig Gen Gerry Hegartyappointed Comd MNTF (C)KFOR in Kosovo.

O o e – Lt Gen Pat Nashappointed Op Comd EUFORChad.

2008e y h – Kosovo declaresits independence.e – ARW deploy asSOTG with EUFOR in Chad.

y – Mr Brian Cowen TDbecomes An Taoiseach.

J ne – 97 Inf Bn deploy withEUFOR in Chad.

Irish soldiers have alsoserved in East Timor,Afghanistan, FYROM,Iraq, Kuwait, Pakistan,Cyprus and New Yorkand this combinedeffort has ensuredthat Ireland continuesto punch above itsweight when it comesto international peace-keeping.

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p54-64) 21/06/2008 12:11


In 2058, when An Cosantóir charts the history of 100years of unbroken peacekeeping service by Irishtroops, another commentator will attempt to evaluateour contribution and our place in the world at thattime. In the interim we will probably have deployed inseveral other dangerous places and many of them maywell be more difficult and more challenging than Chad.However, I have no doubt that 50 years from now his,or her, evaluation will also record that the more thingshave changed the more they have stayed the same andIreland’s contribution will continue to be assessed as“punching above its weight” in an ever evolving inter-national peace and security environment.■

Overseas Units 1998 to 2008Unit To/Form CommanderUN83 Inf Bn May to October 1998 Lt Col M O‘Dwyer84 Inf Bn November 1998 to April 1999 Lt Col S Downes85 Inf Bn May to October 1999 Lt Col P Nash86 Inf Bn November 1999 to April 2000 Lt Col B Donagh87 Inf Bn May to October 2000 Lt Col C Moore88 Inf Bn November 2000 to April 2001 Lt Col D Ashe89 Inf Bn May to October 2001 Lt Col G Hegarty

K OR1 Tpt Coy October 1999 to April 2000 Comdt M Gibson2 Tpt Coy April to October 2000 Comdt M McDermott3 Tpt Coy October 2000 to April 2001 Comdt T Rigney4 Tpt Coy April to October 2001 Comdt J Carroll5 Tpt Coy October 2001 to April 2002 Comdt B Daly6 Tpt Coy April to October 2002 Comdt J Dawson7 Tpt Coy October 2002 to April 2003 Comdt M McEnery8 Tpt Coy April to October 2003 Comdt J Egan27 Inf Gp October 2003 to April 2004 Lt Col M Finn28 Inf Gp April to October 2004 Lt Col T Doyle29 Inf Gp October 2004 to April 2005 Lt Col A Kilfeather30 Inf Gp April to October 2005 Lt Col D Fitzgerald31 Inf Gp October 2005 to April 2006 Lt Col Nugent32 Inf Gp April to October 2006 Lt Col D Bracken33 Inf Gp October 2006 to April 2007 Lt Col B Reade35 Inf Gp April to October 2007 Lt Col E Colclough FN KFOR August 2007 to date Brig Gen G Hegarty37 Inf Gp October 2007 to April 2008 Lt Col M Murray38 Inf Gp April 2008 to date Lt Col M Murphy

N1 Guard Con November 2001 to April 2002 Lt Col B O’Hara2 Guard Con April to November 2002 Lt Col D Pendergast3 Guard Con November 2002 to April 2003 Lt Col R King

N90 Inf Bn November 2003 to May 2004 Lt Col P Moran91 Inf Bn May to November 2004 Lt Col T Behan92 Inf Bn November 2004 to May 2005 Lt Col J Long93 Inf Bn May to November 2005 Lt Col D Carbury94 Inf Bn November 2005 to May 2006 Lt Col JJ O’Reilly95 Inf Bn May to November 2006 Lt Col M McMahon96 Inf Bn November 2006 to May 2007 Lt Col M Kennedy

UN34 Inf Gp October 2006 to April 2007 Lt Col W Harrington36 Inf Gp April to October 2007 Lt Col M McCarthy

U OR C d97 Inf Bn June to date Lt Col P McDaniels

1998 T

O 2

00

8

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p54-64) 21/06/2008 12:04


00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p54-64) 21/06/2008 12:05

ONE was founded in 1952 with “Cuimhnímís” (“WeRemember“) as our motto and remembrance ofour dead comrades is still very much part of ourannual activities. Our two major national remem-

brance ceremonies are Lá na bhFiann held at ArbourHill on Easter Sunday and Niemba Day held at CathalBrugha Barracks in early November. In addition everybranch throughout the country has a remembranceMass and wreath laying ceremony during the year.Other objectives, such as socialisation and comrade-ship, are still very much part of the organisation.

A major change in ONE dates from the late 1980swhen three homeless ex-soldiers died on the streetsof Dublin during a very harsh winter. ONE actedswiftly and ten members raised funds by remortgag-ing their homes. Further fundraising ensued, whichled to the building of the first Bru na bhFiann inQueen St, Dublin.

Because the organisation had taken a new directiona new main aim was adopted, namely “the welfare ofex-servicemen and women by way of providing accom-modation to homeless, elderly or disabled members inneed of such domestic accommodation and shelter

ON

E


and any other assistance required”. The original aimsstill of course remain but as subsidiary objectives.

Because it was now a major charity ONE had tobecome a company limited by guarantee and not havinga share capital. The new company was granted charita-ble status in the name of ONE Teoranta, or ONET.

ONE now runs three residential homes throughoutthe country, the new Brú na bhFiann in Smithfield,Dublin, Beechwood House in Letterkenny, andCustume House in Athlone. In these houses weaccommodate and sustain 40 residents. In addition,at the time of writing we are planning to take overanother house for ten residents in Limerick, which iscurrently being run by the local Patrick SarsfieldBranch of ONE.

All of this charitable activity of course costs money.In 2007 the overall gross costs came to almost €1mil-lion. Thankfully, we receive support from Dublin CityCouncil, Westmeath County Council, Athlone TownCouncil and Letterkenny Town Council. Commencing2008 we will also be receiving an annual subventionfrom the Department of Defence towards our adminis-tration costs. This will free up funds for the homes.

Further funds are raised through the rent our resi-dents pay and from serving and retired members ofthe Defence Forces who contribute €2 per monthfrom their pay cheques/pensions.

In 2007 our branches raised €106,600 throughmembership subs, donations, a national raffle, theONE lotto, and local collections. However, we stillhad to commit some of our dwindling reserves to bal-ance the books.

In 2008 we are planning two major nationalfundraising events, a national golf classic in Augustand a national raffle in September, and we ask foryour support.

Defence Forces units, both overseas and at homehave an excellent record in fundraising for variouscharities, so could I be so bold as to suggest thatsome might adopt us as their charity?

Finally, if you are retiring you might consider join-ing ONE. It is a no-rank organisation with branchescountrywide. You can even found your own branch ifyou have ten like-minded individuals. The annual subis €20 and one can either be an active member or a‘silent partner‘.■

As we celebrate 50 Years ofPeacekeeping by the DefenceForces it gives ONE particularpleasure to be invited to write afew words to mark this proudoccasion. Indeed, the majority ofour members are veterans ofpeacekeeping missions overseas as are many of our residents.

By Lt Gen Gerry McMahon DSM,Chairman ONE.

The Organisation of National Ex-Servicemen and Women (ONE)

President Mary McAleese, DrMartin McAleese and Lt GenDermot Earley (Chief of Staff)with members of ONE andIUNVA at this year’s MilitaryPilgrimage to Lourdes.

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p54-64) 21/06/2008 12:05

It was just another miserable winter’s day andanother sad occasion, a funeral was taking place inWest Dublin of another “unknown” soldier. Thisinterment was a little different. There was no imme-

diate family; no flag; the man being buried had beenfound dead outside the gutter of Collins Bks. He wasburied in a grave organised by the Command Welfareoffice and it was a stark reminder of what could hap-pen any lonely soldier.

A group of us came together afterwards andbemoaned the fact that someone who had served hiscountry so well, at home and overseas, should end hisdays in such a miserable way. A decision was made tocome together to see what we could do about this situ-ation, and to prevent further tragedies. After severalmeetings it was decided to form an association thatwould help to alleviate the problems of many of ourveterans living out their lives in similar circumstances.

A small ad hoc committee undertook to cobbletogether a constitution, and so the Irish UN VeteransAssociation was born. Among the founding memberswere several who were still serving and they tooworked to start up the fledging organisation.

An ‘apartment’ in Stoneybatter was rented. It wasdubbed ‘Niemba House’ and after rudimentary fit-tings were acquired the then MoD, the late Mr BrianLenihan TD, officially recognised the new associationand declared the house open in late 1990.

The initial subscription was £5 so that even theleast well off was not inhibited in joining.

A veteran would be anyone who served overseassuccessfully in a UN-mandated mission. Fund raisingcontinued and flags and pennants were designed andpurchased. A uniform was agreed on and the first fullcommittee assembled and debated the next stages.The constitution was approved and printed and weattended our first St Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublinto great acclaim.

By this time several other posts had beenformed, and the first national convention was heldin Dublin Airport. Contacts were made with theVeterans of Foreign Wars from the USA and rep-resentatives from Boston came to Dublin to

parade with us and to offer advice.In line with one of the tenets of our constitution,

that studies be initiated into post traumatic stressdisorder among our veterans, a FÁS scheme was ini-tiated. Three psychologists set out to interview veter-ans from all over the Republic and after over twoyears of hard work a report was complied and promul-gated. This report caused much interest in officialquarters, and helped to initiate the setting up of thePersonnel Support Service system in the PDF.

In time more IUNVA posts were established. Someflourished, while others subsided as key people movedon. The most recent post established was the 30th Post,in Galway, and membership continues to grow.Monuments to our overseas dead have been erected inDublin, Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, Athlone andMullingar and are a credit to those posts that raised thefunds to inscribe the names of our gallant comradeswho gave their lives in the service of peace. We arepledged to ensure that their sacrifice is never forgotten.

On a broader score we have marched with otherveterans in Boston, New York, New Orleans, andDelaware, in the USA, and in Northern Ireland,London, Liverpool, France and the Netherlands. We areassociated with the Soldiers of Peace International inFrance and with the World Veterans Federation.

Above all, IUNVA continues to have as its mainthrust the welfare of our veterans whatever their situ-ation. Our Curragh post maintains a house for veter-ans who are without homes and currently four mem-bers live in comfort there.

The profile of the Association at home and abroadcontinues to grow. Our headquarters at Arbour Hill isnow a source of great pride to us all and we appreci-ate the support given by An tAire, Mr Willie O’DeaTD, the Dept of Defence and above all the PDF. Ournext major fundraising event will be held in theNational Concert Hall on September 8th, whereGeraldine Brannigan and Phil Coulter, who visited usin Lebanon will head the bill. We hope all of our sup-porters will attend what promises to be, a gala occa-sion. For more about IUNVA, contact the HonourarySecretary IUNVA at 01-6791262.■


Irish UnitedNations VeteransAssociation (IUNVA)By Maj Gen Vincent SavinoPresident IUNVA

Minister for Defence Mr Willie O’Dea TD at thewreath laying ceremony atIUNVA HQ in Arbour Hill.

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p54-64) 21/06/2008 12:05

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p54-64) 21/06/2008 12:05

00-An Cos-JUNE-08 (p54-64) 24/06/2008 10:33

THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE

Documents

Transcript of THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE