An Cosantóir

25 given time but with no leave allowed over the six month tour, a full complement of soldiers is always present in the camp and have to be looked after with COVID restrictions in mind. On camp life generally, Lt Col O'Donovan says: "Food is very good, we have Wi-Fi through the camp and good recreational facilities, even though these have had to be changed to take into account COVID restrictions." With no leave allowed for six months, keeping in touch with home is more important than ever for the Irish troops overseas. These days it is much easier than in the past thanks to Wi-Fi and Face time and WhatsApp etc. They have made a huge difference in terms of talking to family back home. And, of course, it will be particularly important at Christmas time." He added: "When I first served overseas you had to rely on a satellite link to phone home, but it was expensive and you had to pay for it yourself."And even in these days of instant hi-tech communications and social media etc, it is interesting to learn that the traditional written letter is still very popular. "Yes, they are still very important because it is great to get a letter from your children, your wife, your partner or your mother or father. It's a lovely means of hearing from home." Then there is Christmas. "It will be tough on people, especially those with young children, but we will do our best to make the day special for everyone. We are still planning it, but we will definitely celebrate Christmas. The canteen will be busy, I can certainly say that." For Fred personally he will be thinking of his family back home in Castlebar – wife Patricia and triplet daughters Katie, Sarah and Anna – and a going home date in May 2021. 25 UNIFIL REPORT, 117TH INF BN because of quarantine restrictions he had not yet had a chance to go out and meet everyone under his command. However, he is already familiar with the Maltese soldiers as they had trained in the Glen of Imaal also: "They speak very good English, though they sometimes have difficulties understanding the Irish accents!" Before departing Ireland, Lt Col O'Donovan and his troops underwent standard deployment training. But because of COVID even this presented challenges. "Normally in training we would speak to groups of around 30 in lectures but because of COVID the groups could be no bigger than 10 which meant we had to do it three times which, of course, added to the time involved." Also, 'Pods' were established with groups of soldiers representing various ranks and skills. "The idea was that because the Pods were mixed, if one person fell sick it would not cripple the mission, the other Pods could continue as normal. It means there would be limited disruption to the operation of the Battalion should anyone catch the virus." On the training, he said it was essentially refresher training. "It's getting a group of people working together where they might not traditionally do so, getting to know their comrades so they would not be meeting for the first time when we arrived in Lebanon." Even when they got on the plane for the Lebanon they had to suffer a setback. "We had to stopover in Manchester because of a fault with the aeroplane. We had a long wait for a part to arrive which meant a flight time of 14 hours." COVID is an ever-present issue, before they left Ireland and now in Lebanon. "Numbers are very high here and they are going in to a lockdown situation. But then people back home are having to put up with COVID restrictions, so it is the same for everyone." And there are also impacts as Lt Col O'Donovan and his troops try to go about their everyday duties. "Our movements are limited while meetings we would normally do face-to-face now have to be done over Zoom or Skype. However, patrols with the Lebanese Army continue as normal." Everyday life in the camp has also seen changes, he explains: "COVID has meant changes here in terms of the numbers eating or socialising together at any one time. Even the sleeping and recreational arrangements have had to be adjusted to take account of social distancing etc." An interesting and somewhat unusual 'headache' in terms of accommodating the needs of the troops is that normally about 20 per cent of the battalion would be on leave at any v Members of the 117thInf Bn firing the .5 HMG in the Glen of Imaal v Members of the 117th Inf Bn firing the Javelin Anti - Tank missile in the Glen of Imaal

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