Irish soldiers have been ambushed, kidnapped and in some cases executed in cold blood. Some 85 Irish troops have lost their lives on UN duty, writes security analyst Tom Clonan.
Yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of Ireland's membership of the UN.
In 1958, members of the Defence Forces were first deployed abroad on UN service to Lebanon. Since then Irish men and women have served in more than 30 countries over several continents worldwide. These have included locations as diverse as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Cambodia in Asia, along with Israel, Syria, Iran and Iraq in the Middle East, Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo in Europe and Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Haiti in Central and South America. Irish troops have also served throughout Africa in countries such as Liberia, Ivory Coast, Somalia, Namibia, Angola and the Congo.
Despite being synonymous at home and abroad with the term "peacekeepers" Irish troops have a history of involvement in the full range of UN mandated military operations from low-key peacekeeping missions to high intensity peace enforcement missions.
Ireland's involvement in full combat operations as participants in peace enforcement missions dates back to the Congo in the early 1960s. The Irish fought a number of full-scale engagements between 1960 and 1964 in the Congo including the siege at Jadotville and the "Battle of the Tunnel" in Elizabethville.
The Irish returned more recently to peace enforcement missions in East Timor in the late 90s and a number are currently serving in a UN-mandated Nato peace enforcement mission in Kosovo.
During their deployment to East Timor - in an unfamiliar and difficult tropical climate - the Irish Army Ranger Wing came in for particular praise from their Australian counterparts for the manner in which they dealt with pro-Jakarta militias and for the even-handed manner in which they restored order and confidence among the local population.
The Irish in Kosovo came in for similar praise from their Norwegian counterparts in Kosovo in March 2004 when a platoon of young Irish troops pre-empted a potentially catastrophic episode of ethnic cleansing in a number of Serb villages south of Pristina.
Aside from peace enforcement operations, peacekeeping missions such as the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) have proven complex and difficult missions for the UN. The Irish brought a particular flair to this type of mission and during their involvement in Lebanon won the grudging respect of both Israeli and Hizbullah forces.
The Irish are particularly remembered for their conduct during the so-called "Battle for At Tiri" in Lebanon in 1980 when Irish troops are credited with preventing the Srebrenica-style ethnic cleansing of the village of At Tiri by Israeli-backed Christian militias operating under the command of self-styled "warlord", Maj Haddad.
Throughout their involvement in UN missions, Irish troops have been in the frontline and have experienced the full spectrum of combat from defensive to offensive operations. Irish troops have been mortared, shot at, and subjected to prolonged shelling, siege and sustained small arms attack.
Irish troops have been ambushed, kidnapped and in some cases executed in cold blood. Some 85 Irish troops have lost their lives while on UN service. Irish troops have also been witness to and have rendered first-line assistance at the scene of a number of civilian massacres - most recently the murder of over 100 Lebanese men, women and children at Qana in Lebanon in 1996.
In addition to the psychological and emotional effects of such incidents, Irish troops also endure - along with their families and loved ones - the pain of prolonged separation from home during such missions.
With the number of UN-mandated Nato and EU missions rising, this burden will continue to expand in the near future.