An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir January / February 2024 www.military.ie/magazine 16 | IRISH UNITED NATIONS VETERANS ASSOCIATION (IUNVA) BY COL GEORGE KERTON (RETD) PHOTOS BY COL GEORGE KERTON (RETD) C ol George Kerton (Retd) IUNVA Public Relations Officer, covers the early days of the Irish United Nations Veterans Association (IUNVA) and the activities of the association today as a registered charity. The late Maj Gen Vincent Savino, a former Quartermaster General and the first National President of IUNVA, wrote the following at the start of an article in the June 2008 edition of An Cosantóír magazine: "It was just another miserable winter's day and another sad occasion; a funeral was taking place in West Dublin of another "unknown" soldier. This interment was a little different. There was no immediate family; no flag; the man being buried had been found dead outside the gutter of Collins Bks. He was buried in a grave organised by the Command Welfare office and it was a stark reminder of what could happen to any lonely soldier. A group of us came together afterwards and bemoaned the fact that someone who had served his country so well, at home and overseas, should end his days in such a miserable way. A decision was made to come together to see what we could do about this situation and to prevent further tragedies. After several meetings it was decided to form an association that would help to alleviate the problems of many of our veterans living out their lives in similar circumstances. A small ad hoc committee undertook to cobble together a constitution and so the Irish United Nations Veterans Association was born". The initial discussions to form IUNVA took place in Sep - Oct 1989 against a backdrop of renewed media and public interest in Ireland's involvement in peacekeeping, it was thirty years since the first Defence Forces deployment to the United Nations Observation Group in Lebanon (UNOGIL) in 1958. The Nobel Committee had decided to award the 1988 Nobel Peace Prize to the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces who had contributed to world peace since the first armed peacekeeping operations commenced in 1956 when the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) was established in the aftermath of the Suez crisis. Ireland, like a number of other countries, decided to institute a new medal for personnel who had served on peace support operations since 1958. An Bonn Chosantóírí Síochána na Náisiún Aontaithe (The UN Peacekeepers Medal) was introduced in 1989 for members or former members of the PDF or members or former members of the Chaplaincy Service who qualified for the award of a medal in respect of service with a UN mission or a UN mandated mission. The first formal IUNVA meeting was held on 10 February 1990 to elect an interim committee. The first annual general meeting was held on 6 October 1990 at the Eastern Health Board Social Club in Grangegorman. The constitution was ratified and the first National Executive Committee (NEC) was formed. The Minister for Defence gave formal approval for the formation of the association and the Defence Forces General Staff gave their full support. Meetings were held in the early days in a room in the Leisure Complex in St Brendan's Hospital until suitable premises were rented for IUNVA HQ in Stoneybatter. In 2004, IUNVA leased Arbour House from for the Office of Public Works; this had been part of the military complex at Arbour Hill. It had Lt Gen Seán Clancy COS speaking with Tony Marshall, a veteran of service with 35 Inf Bn and 38 Inf Bn in the Congo during Veterans Day 2022 Tony Grant, a veteran of UN service in Cyprus and the Sinai Peninsula beside the plaque outside the Garrison Church in the former Kickham Bks Clonmel in memory of his father, Coy Sgt Felix Grant, Ireland's first fatality on UN service The former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon shaking hands with the late Michael Haslam during a visit to Ireland in July 2009 when he laid a wreath in memory of Irish fallen peacekeepers A representative group of military veterans during the visit by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in July 2009. The late Maj Gen Vincent Savino is in the front row nearest the camera. IUNVA members marching on parade during Veterans Day on 1 Oct 2023 Garden of IUNVA Post 11 Curragh Camp

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