AFTER IRELAND became a member of the United Nations in 1955, it was perhaps inevitable that Irish forces would serve in peacekeeping missions overseas. Our influence and contribution in the subsequent years, though, has far exceeded expectations.
In 1958, Irish troops headed overseas for the first time as part of the armed military observer mission (known as the UN Observer Group) in Lebanon, where a total of 50 Irish officers served over four separate deployments.
Following on from that experience, Ireland’s first major overseas UN deployment commenced in July 1960, when the government of the day, in response to the UN secretary general’s request for assistance, agreed to send troops to the Belgian Congo as part of the UN force there.
The Congo mission remains one of the darker moments of recent military history, with 26 Irish soldiers losing their lives during what was a decidedly difficult assignment, fraught with logistical problems.
Between 1960 and 1964, a total of 6,000 Irish personnel served in the Congo. This period also marked the first opportunity for the Defence Forces to serve alongside soldiers from other nations and compare equipment and training methods.
Since then, Defence Forces personnel have served in countries all over the world, including central American states, Russia, the former Yugoslavia, Cambodia, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Namibia, Western Sahara, Liberia and East Timor.
A significant development came about in 1980 when the Army Ranger Wing was formally established in response to an increase in international terrorism.
The unit focuses on special operations and is equipped and trained to the highest international standards.
Following successful deployments in East Timor and Liberia, earlier this year the Rangers cleared the way for a larger deployment in Chad, where Irish forces are currently helping to create a secure environment for 400,000 refugees along the border with Darfur.
In 1998, president Bill Clinton, commenting on Ireland’s contribution to the UN, said: “In the 40 years in which the world has been working together on peacekeeping, the only country in the world which has never taken a single, solitary day off from the cause of world peace to the United Nations peacekeeping operations is Ireland.”