Members of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs are to ask the Government to extend the stay of Ireland's 434 peacekeepers in Liberia beyond next May when the troops, serving with the United Nations Mission in Liberia (Unmil), are to be replaced by a Pakistani contingent.
The undertaking was given at a meeting of the committee in Leinster House yesterday after members had heard a submission from a Liberian aid worker. David Konneh, director of the Don Bosco Homes in Liberia, praised the work of the Irish troops on United Nations duty and requested that the Irish contingent should remain longer in the troubled west African state.
"They have made a significant impact," Mr Konneh told the committee. Previously, he said, the only thing Liberians knew about armies was that they would take a gun and shoot you, but the Irish troops had supplied library books, visited schools and were effective in suppressing uprisings and other sporadic conflicts.
"They have made an impact among ordinary people," said Mr Konneh, whose organisation works closely with Irish development agency Trócaire. Research showed "an overwhelming desire on the part of Liberians and members of the international community in Liberia to see the Irish peacekeeping force continue [ in] operation", Mr Konneh added.
Responding, Fine Gael TD Bernard Allen, Labour's Michael D Higgins and committee chairman Dr Michael Woods all undertook to press for a continued Irish troop presence.