Irish soldiers returning from service in Lebanon were welcomed home by their families today.
The children of the men and women of the Irish peacekeeping 105th Battalion clutched their “welcome home” balloons today, awaiting the arrival of the 240 soldiers after a six-month tour.
Nearly 40 children made Dublin Terminal 1 arrivals their playground for the day as wives, girlfriends, boyfriends, husbands and fiances anxiously awaited the delayed Beirut to Dublin flight carrying the now-on-holiday soldiers.
Trickling through in waves to shouts of “daddy, daddy” and cheers from the crowd, the men and women of Camp Shamrock, Tibnin, south Lebanon, made their way into the crowd.
A tearful Jemma Donovan, from Cork, was reunited with her two children and niece and nephew Catherine and Patrick Caddell.
Commenting on women in the Army, fellow peacekeeper Eileen Mangan from Kerry said: “It’s equally as difficult as being a man in the Army; you are away from family and friends for six months - it’s not easy on anybody really,” she said.
Sean Cosgrave from Clonmel, Co Tipperary, father of seven, spent 18 tours as a peacekeeper worldwide, including periods in east Africa, central Africa, Bosnia, Kosovo and 11 stints in Lebanon. “I speak the language [Arabic] fairly well, and I get along with the people,” he said.
When asked where he would like to go on his next tour, he said he would like to go back to Lebanon because “it’s the only show in town”.
“It was quiet; we hadn’t any problems, and the people in the area absolutely loved the Irish, and the Irish got along well with them,” he added.