IRELAND: The Minister for Foreign Affairs has welcomed the adoption by the UN Security Council of a resolution calling for a complete end to hostilities in Lebanon along with a range of other measures aimed at preventing future conflicts in the country.
Dermot Ahern also indicated that the Government would be willing to commit Irish troops to a new UN peacekeeping force in the region. But he warned that any Irish contingent would be small because of other international commitments.
He also said there were concerns about the safety of any contingent, pointing out that almost 50 Irish soldiers lost their lives on peacekeeping missions to the Lebanon between the late 1970s and 2000.
Mr Ahern described the new UN resolution as "an important development" that "brings us appreciably closer to the cessation of violence which has been the Government's priority from the outset".
"It has taken more time and many more casualties than I had hoped to reach this stage, and has required difficult compromises for all parties, but it is important that we have now reached a broad international consensus on how to resolve the crisis." He said there was "a lot more work still to do".
Protesters demonstrating against the war in the Lebanon staged a silent protest outside Mr Ahern's constituency office in Dundalk, Co Louth, on Saturday to demand he take action over "Israel's assault against the Lebanon and Palestine".
About 100 people, some wearing red-stained T-shirts, lay on the pavement to highlight what they say is Government inaction over the Lebanon war. The demonstration was organised by the Irish Anti-War Movement and the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
Fine Gael's defence spokesman, Billy Timmons, said the Dáil might need to approve any Irish participation in a UN peacekeeping force for Lebanon. Mr Timmons said Fine Gael would support any move to recall the Dáil to facilitate such a role for Ireland.