Time to bring our UN troops home
Sir — Clouded in the current coronavirus crisis is the very unsatisfactory situation pertaining to the rotation due in mid-May of Irish troops on UN missions in Lebanon and Mali.
It was recently reported that arrangements were being made to rotate the Mali mission on schedule — but that questions remained over when the far bigger Irish peacekeeping contingent on the Unifil mission in Lebanon would rotate.
Last Monday, April 27, junior minister Paul Kehoe would still not clarify the situation on ‘troop rotation’ for families when speaking on local radio.
It seems that the Government is appealing to the UN to facilitate the repatriation on schedule in May, an appeal that seems to be dragging on for some time.
This is not acceptable and continues the disrespect this Government, now in caretaker mode, has shown the Defence Forces.
It should be remembered that our soldiers have, for the past six months, been living in conditions of lockdown with very similar characteristics to those pertaining here for the past six weeks.
They have carried out a dangerous mission focused on securing local communities in a potentially hostile environment. Little or no freedom of individual movement is permitted. Maintaining a very strict regime of activity and curfew has been the rule for the past six months.
There may be veracity in the counter-argument that this is the nature of the business soldiers signed up to — but as we are experiencing, more than ever in the midst of this pandemic, the individual cannot prosper alone. These troops, too, have families awaiting them, children counting down the days, new arrivals yet to be greeted and cuddled, while spouses, partners, parents and grandparents need to be eased of worry until the next overseas mission.
And of course lurking in the shadows of this state of affairs is the perceived possibility that we may upset the UN by insisting on the scheduled Unifil rotation and thus jeopardise the possibility of an Irish seat on the UN Security Council later in the year — something the Cabinet has been eagerly working towards.
It is time for the Government to grasp its final opportunity to do right by our troops and their families. Our national airline is currently on medical support missions to Beijing, I’m sure it would facilitate similar to Beirut. Michael Gannon (Colonel, retired),
St Thomas’ Square, Kilkenny