PROUD TO SERVE
» Irish troops dedicated to peacekeeping role » Unit says training key to successful mission
Everyone is very close, you can have the craic. If someone is down, we all help each other PTE DYLAN FARRELL
UN PEACEKEEPER, GOLAN SYRIA
IRISH peacekeepers in Syria have spoken of their pride in their mission – and how their training back in Ireland set them up perfectly.
Some 133 members of the 68th Infantry Group are coming to the end of their six month tour of duty with the UNDOF mission where they monitor a fragile peace between Syria and Israel.
The mission was set up in 1974, the year after the Yom Kippur war when Israel seized a large area of the Golan Heights.
The area has become more dangerous in recent months, with Islamic group Hezbollah launching attacks on Israel – and the Jewish state replying with bombs and missiles.
Speaking after a medal ceremony at their base Camp Faouar, Private Matthew Quirke, 20, from Donegal, is on his first overseas mission. He said: “I have enjoyed it a lot. It has been a new experience and a new country. It has been very interesting – you learn a lot about the job and different cultures.
“The training that we did before gave you peace of mind because you already knew that you were ready for any situation that was going to happen over here and you had confidence that the corporals and sergeants over you, they all knew what they were doing as well.”
Airman Sean Rainsford, from Wexford, is on his first trip abroad.
He said: “I’m proud to call it the first place I have ever been.
“It is not the worst place to be, I was nervous enough coming over but it’s a good spot. It is a good experience.
“The lads are a good bunch.
Before I joined the army, I was doing carpentry and bar work. I hated every second of it.
“In the army, the fitness is unreal. It’s good for the mind – you are staying off the streets and staying out of trouble.”
Ptes Dylan Farrell, Ryan Gaffey and Arron Cleary, all from Athlone in Co Westmeath are in the quick reaction force – which responds to any crisis in €1million Mowag armoured cars.
Pte Cleary said: “It was a very good mission. It’s more than I expected, more work and keeping fit, which is good.”
Pte Gaffey added: “You are told before you come out what you are expected to do. You are used to it when you get the first one or two.
“When you get the call, you are all switched on to get down to the cars in under 15 minutes.”
Pte Farrell said the mission had gone well. He added: “It has been quiet so far – everyone is doing their job, nothing has happened so far.
“It is good adrenaline when you run down to the cars.
“Everyone is very close, you can have the craic together. If someone is down we all help each other out.”
Private Gary Shevlin and Corporal John Sharkey, both from Dundalk in Co Louth, are also on the force’s quick reaction unit.
Cpl Sharkey, who previously served in Lebanon with UNIFIL, said: “Every mission I have done so far is different in terms of the mission – different jobs.
“Here in UNDOF we are the quick reaction force so we are on 15 minutes notice to move.
“If the call goes out we have to rush down to the cars, make sure the weapons are mounted and get out the gate in 15 minutes and it could be anything. It’s different to UNIFIL where you do more patrols.
Pte Shevlin added: “It’s my first one
It is sad we are leaving. I’m sure the Syrians will be sad to see us go
SGT NIALL KILCRANN GOLAN, SYRIA
to Syria as well. I have been in Lebanon three times, but this one is a much better mission.
“You are a wee bit busier, especially with the Mowags, but it’s grand. It has been smooth enough, thank God.”
Pte Darren Brennan, from Athlone, told us how he gave up life as a medical technology student to follow his dream to join the army.
He said: “I joined to go overseas and experience different things that I was not expecting at home.
“It is just something you can’t really describe for people who haven’t done it.
“I enjoy the soldering – getting call outs and groundhogs [alerts] and stuff like that.
“Some people will get afraid, but that’s when the adrenaline will come in. I went to college and I experienced the college life and I just knew that it wasn’t for me. I just went home and told my ma, ‘I am going to join the Army. That’s what I want to do’.
“My mother actually took it well, my father was just wondering ‘would you not join the guards instead?’.
“I just thought it would be a better experience, you’d do things no one else in the parish would ever do.” Quartermaster Sgt Sabrina Roche, from Callan in Kilkenny, said it was hard being away from her kids.
She added: “It is difficult. There is a lot of preparation, the kids have to mentally prepare for me to go.
“I find being out here it is great because there is internet so I am constantly contactable for
them. I can contact them and they can contact me and I am always available via Revolut when they need money.”
Sgt Niall Kilcrann, from Roscommon, has previously served in UNDOF in Chad and Lebanon.
He is a Mowag instructor back home and says it is great to put his skills to good use on the Syrian mission.
Sgt Kilcrann said: “This has been a great mission. The people I work with, the Irish and other nationalities, all working together to do our job to the best of our abilities.
“It is sad we are leaving. I am pretty sure the Syrians and other contingents here will be sad to see us go.
“This mission appeals to me because you work closely with the troops. You get to do your job to the best of your ability. It is challenging, it is rewarding.”