ABOUT 50 Irish soldiers could be serving as military police with the NATO controlled peacekeeping force in former Yugoslavia by next month if the Government gives the go ahead.
It is expected that permission for Irish participation could come within days. The Government has already agreed to participation, but the mandate for the mission has to be agreed by the Dail.
If the mandate is agreed by the Dail before the general election is called, Irish soldiers could be serving, for the first time, under NATO command within six weeks.
Preparations have already been made for selecting a company for military police duties with Sfor (Stability Force), the NATO led force which replaced the tailed UN mission in former Yugoslavia in 1995. According to military sources, the Army has already acquired left hand drive vehicles for use by the contingent.
NATO commanders have expressed a preference for an Irish contingent to serve as military police in Sarajevo. It is expected the Irish personnel will form a command company in charge of three platoons of paramilitary police supplied by the Italian Caribinieri and the Spanish Guardia Civil.
The Irish company would be based at Sfor headquarters in Sarajevo and be responsible for law enforcement within the international military organisation. Duties would also include monitoring and controlling military traffic, investigation of traffic accidents involving Sfor vehicles and liaising with the local police and the UN's international police force in the city.
It would be the first time that Irish troops will have served under a NATO command, but the military police company would include 17 other nonNATO countries and would have troops from other traditionally neutral countries like Sweden, Austria and Finland.
If permission for Defence Forces participation is given, the Republic will be joining the mission a third of the way through Sfor's 18 month mandate. However, other countries are late coming into the mission, and the Irish company may join at around the same time as contingents from Slovenia and Bulgaria.
The Irish company would be among the smaller contributions to Sfor, alongside countries like Latvia, with 50 soldiers, Albania with 30, and Jordan with 10. Altogether, 34 countries are participating in the mission.
The largest contributor is the US, followed by Britain and France. For the purpose of the peacekeeping mission, former Yugoslavia is divided into three division areas under the command of the largest three military contributors. At present around 36,000 foreign troops are serving with Sfor.
Since 1991, when the UN and EU countries began attempts at establishing peace in the Balkans, some 350 Irish troops, mostly acting as observers, have served in the area. During the Irish presidency of the EU, more than 100 Irish soldiers staffed the monitoring mission run by the EU in the area.