An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir March 2017 www.dfmagazine.ie 18 | Irish General Takes by TOM BRADY PHoToS AS CREDITED S ongbirds flourished in the south Lebanese village of At Tiri during the 1980s and 1990s. At Tiri provided a sanctuary for the birds, which were a popular target for young boys in that strife-riven part of the country south of the river Litani and leading to the northern Israeli border. But in At Tiri most of the population fled the village after it was devastated by clashes between the warring factions, many in a hurry - as the shattered remains of the local school showed, with lessons still chalked on the blackboard. And of those that were left, none was under the age of 65. Among the few facilities, there was a weekly clinic staffed by medical personnel from the Irish battalion of peacekeepers. Kildare man Michael Beary served in south Lebanon as a captain and a commandant with three Irish deployments in 1982, 1989 and 1994. Now he is back as a 60-year-old major general and head of mission and force commander of UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon). He is only the second Irish officer to command UNIFIL, a major military honour for a small country. Members of the Defence Forces have deployed with UNIFIL since 1978, with 47 losing their lives. Much has changed in south Lebanon, which has enjoyed ten years of peace, largely due to the influence of UNIFIL. "We have ten-year-olds in south Lebanon who have never seen what war looks like," General Beary told the Irish Independent in an exclusive interview during a visit home. "My intention and hope is that those boys and girls can become young parents at some stage and still not have seen what war looks like." He described his appointment as a special honour for Ireland and for the Defence Forces, particularly. "The Defence Forces have always been very actively engaged in peacekeeping. "Even though our GDP spend on defence would be quite low, we are among the top three countries in Europe providing troops for peace-keeping missions." General Beary has been in the hot seat at the mission head- quarters at Naqoura, 3km north of the Israeli border, since July and is in charge of 10,500 troops, with a budget that has recently been boosted to half a billion US dollars. The mission involves troops from 40 countries, with Indonesia, Malaysia, Italy, France and Spain the biggest suppliers of personnel. UNIFIL's area of operations covers 300sq km, running from the Litani river to the Blue Line, which was set up by the UN with the agreement of the Lebanese and Israeli authorities to mark out a border between the two countries. The Blue Line is about 118km long and the Irish-Finnish battalion has responsibility for patrolling a portion of it. "We mount up to 400 military operations daily to monitor the peace, ensure that south Lebanon is not used to launch attacks of any kind and prevent the two parties from coming too closely into contact. "We have to operate very quickly to reduce tensions between the parties and do practical things to stop them pointing weapons and insulting each other. "By doing that, we hope to avoid a repeat of what happened in 2006, resulting in a 34-day war which, very sadly, resulted in the deaths of 1,100 Lebanese, 120 Israelis and five UN peacekeepers." General Beary said Lebanon was a very special country with 18 "Lebanese children have never known war - my aim is make it so that they never do." Major General Michael Beary Command of UNIFIl UNIFIL's Head of Mission and Force Commander, Maj Gen Michael Beary, meets with the school students involved in 'Painting for Peace' on 21st September 2016. © UN Photo/Pasqual Gorriz

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