YOU’RE WORLD CLASS
» Deputy Chief of » O Murchu: Irish Staff presents 80 character makes troops with medals soldiers unique
A TOP Defence Forces general has told Irish peacekeepers serving in war-torn Syria: “You are world class at what you do.”
Deputy Chief of Staff Major General Adrian O Murchu made his comments as he presented UN medals to members of the 68th Infantry Group yesterday in a special ceremony at Camp Faouar, home to Irish peacekeepers for the past 10 years.
The medal parade is the pinnacle of the 133-strong infantry group’s mission in Syria – which comes to an end next month.
It’s also the end of Ireland’s large scale involvement in UNDOF, the long-running UN mission to keep the peace between Syria and Israel in the contested Golan area. The mission was set up in 1974, following a war the previous year in which Israel invaded and seized a large area of the Syrian Golan Heights.
Ireland and other member countries in the 1,200-strong UNDOF mission now patrol the area to keep the peace and ensure there are no violations of the truce.
The area has become more dangerous in recent months, with Islamic group Hezbollah launching a series of attacks on Israel – and the Jewish state replying with bombs and missiles.
But that conflict has not deterred the Irish soldiers who are on constant standby respond to any crisis in the area. And, speaking on a visit to Camp Faouar, Maj Gen O Murchu told reporters how met the soldiers – and expressed his pride in their work.
He said: “I had a couple of messages. The first was to tell them to their faces what I think in private, which is how immensely proud I am of them and what they have achieved.
“We receive regular reports from UN HQ in New York and certainly the messages I have been getting from the senior mission leadership here is of the excellence of our people here on the ground.”
And the senior officer said that praise stood not only for the
work of the Irish
soldiers in Syria but all over, including in neighbouring Lebanon, where our troops have served with distinction since 1978.
He said: “That resonates with what we hear from the mission leadership in UNIFIL and in the other places that we serve with distinction.
“That is very gratifying for me, it is not something I did not know already – it confirms my pride in the excellence of our people.
“The culture of mission delivery and the importance of doing a good job in the right way and really being an exemplar for all that’s good about the Irish soldier.”
When asked why were Irish soldiers so good at peacekeeping, the general said he believed it was down to their skills – and character.
He said: “Our people have competence in spades and we prove that when we go overseas for example not only in these contexts but when our people do courses and competitions overseas with other militaries.
“We have a high bar in respect of competence but even more important it is the character of our people.
“It is the way they deal not only with our international partners, of which we have many both here and elsewhere, but it is also how they deal with the local citizens.
“It is very much based on the values of the Irish people, that friendliness, that openness to other people and other perspectives and also to the respect that our people show and have for the citizens of Syria in this case and of course the citizens of Lebanon in the UNIFIL mission. That resonates with the locals. That’s the feedback we get.”
The infantry group is UNDOF’S emergency response team which responds to any crisis in the sprawling, 240 square kilometre mission area and they have a dozen €1million Mowag armoured personnel carriers to get them around the area safely – but Maj Gen O Murchu said the outfit’s strength lay not just in its armour.
He said: “We pride ourselves on being highly professional, we are the people that they call when someone is in trouble as the Force Reserve Company here.
“We are the last throw of
the dice for the force commander when other contingents might be in difficulty.
“We have particular skills, and not just with our armoured element which is on very short notice to move 24 hours a day, but also the other really world class specialist skills that we bring to the table – things like engineer search, demining, explosive ordnance disposal and many other skills that we have that we are known for and that we run courses for in Ireland for other nations.
“It is really about the added value that the Irish bring as a strategic enabler, not only in extremis but also from a day to day – bringing value where it is needed in the mission.
“There are so many ways in which our people demonstrate every day, every week at home and abroad that they are world class.
“Just because you are small that does not mean that we don’t aspire and that we are not world class.
“We prove that time and time again. “I am quite comfortable in saying and take a lot of pride in saying that our people are world class. Though we might be small, we are world class.”
Every member of the group who has served on the mission for 90 days is entitled to a UN medal – and 80 of the soldiers were presented with them in a ceremony at the camp yesterday.
Soldiers who spoke to the Irish Mirror after the ceremony said they were delighted to receive their medal.
Captain Cathal Owens said: “It has been a pleasure to serve with this unit, the medal is recognition of the work we have done here. Ultimately it is about Ireland delivering a team to a mission area and essentially doing the job that we have been trained for.”
We are the ones they call when someone is in trouble MAJ GEN O MURCHU GOLAN, YESTERDAY