A 24-hour monitoring service to collate information on the war in Iraq has been set up by the Irish Defence Forces.
The incident centre in Dublin will be run by intelligence officers, who will provide information on developments to the Defence Forces' general staff, the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, and civil servants.
Information on the situation will also be provided by some Defence Forces officers who are still stationed in the Middle East on UN missions and who will remain in the region during the conflict.
A spokesman for the Defence Forces said: "The main purpose of the incident centre is to monitor the situation for anybody who has an official interest. We will monitor international transmissions and keep in touch with our people in the Middle East."
The Irish Defence Forces has 14 officers in Lebanon, Syria and Israel. They are stationed there as unarmed military observers. They are members of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO), which was originally established by the UN Security Council for peacekeeping operations in the region.
There are also seven staff members still with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
At the moment, equipment and back-up facilities at the incident centre are being moved in. They are bringing in cables for a number of international television networks, satellites, computers, maps and equipment for maintaining links in the Middle East.
There will be 24-hour coverage at the centre, with at least one officer there all night. The centre is at the Defence Forces HQ in Infirmary Road, Dublin.
A Department of Defence spokesman said the incident centre was a Defence Forces' initiative but the department was certainly in favour of it to provide information and prepare briefings for the Minister and civil servants.
"We certainly support the incident centre and there is definitely an advantage to having a centre to co-ordinate all information," he said.
The spokesman said it was too early to indicate what would happen after the war. However, if the UN was to look for Irish troops in a peacekeeping capacity then the State would be very willing to co-operate.
He said this would be subject to Government agreement, and if it was within the limits set on the number of Irish personnel who can serve abroad, which at the moment is 860.
The United Nations Training School Ireland prepares Irish troops for overseas peacekeeping missions, and also shares its experience and knowledge with civilian and academic establishments.