An Cosantóir March 2014 www.dfmagazine.ie
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By CAPT DANIEL SHEERAN, UNTSI
A
s the 20th year of
the United Nations
training School
Ireland (UNtSI) closes, it is
worth noting the progres-
sive and relevant institute
that the school has become
since its formative days in
the early 1990s.
The school, like peace-
keeping, has evolved since
the 1990s. As peacekeeping
operations have become ever
more complex and compre-
hensive, UNTSI has respond-
ed to this challenge. Estab-
lished in 1993, the School
was originally developed to
respond to the myriad UN
missions Defence Forces
personnel were deployed to
at the time. The UN Military
Observer and Staff Officers
course was the signature
course developed in the
school to prepare officers for
deployment on 'non-troop'
missions. The other main re-
sponsibility of UNTSI was the
co-ordination and delivery
of briefings and lectures for
personnel deploying over-
seas, be it with Irish battal-
ions or in staff positions.
If it can be said that 'the
eyes are the window to
the soul,' the same could
be said about the role of
UNTSI, as it provides the
public and international
audience with a window
into the peacekeeping experience that lies at the heart of
the modern Defence Forces.
Civilian and international participation on the School's Inter-
national Human Rights 'Train the Trainers' course and Interna-
tional Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMIC) course, demonstrates
that UNTSI is at the forefront of both of these disciplines.
Both courses are unique in their own right - the International
Human Rights course is the only course of its type in the
world that incorporates military, police and civilian students.
It is further enhanced by collaboration with the Irish Human
Rights Commission in the delivery of the training. Instruc-
tors on this course are educated to MA level, and currently
the Defence Forces has a core group of dedicated young and
enthusiastic human rights lecturers and instructors.
In a similar vein, the International CIMIC course has highly
qualified personnel who instruct and deliver both the theo-
retical and practical aspects of the course. All instructors
20 Years of UNTsI
