An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir June 2018 www.dfmagazine.ie 14 | two DF personnel went to Congo as staff in the HQ of a French-led force deployed prior to the de- ployment of the UN-led MONUC mission. When the EU de- ployed a 4,300-strong force to Chad in 2008 it was led by Lt Gen Patrick Nash from his Operational HQ in Paris and a total of 2,800 members of the Defence Forces would serve in Chad with either EUFOR or the UN's follow-on MIN- URCAT mission. In 1993 the gov- ernment amended the Defence Act to allow members of the Defence Forces participate in peace enforcement as well as peacekeep- ing operations. This facilitated the deployment that year of a transport company to the war-torn cauldron of Somalia as part of UNOSOM II, where they operated in support of French and Indian brigades. Although only two companies would serve in the mission before it was withdrawn, they set an important precedent that would enable the DF to take part in more ro- bust operations into the future. One example was the deploy- ment of the ARW in October 1999 as part of the International Force East Timor (INTERFET), a multinational taskforce estab- lished and led by Australia in accordance with a UN mandate. Although Ireland did not join Partnership for Peace until 1999, by May 1997 a 50-strong MP contingent was deployed to Bosnia as part of the NATO-led, UN-mandated Stabilisation Force (SFOR). Participation in NATO-led operations would lead to new peace-support challenges for the DF, including deploying liaison teams and staff officers to ISAF in Kabul and trans- port companies and mechanised infantry groups to KFOR in Kosovo, where, within a decade of first taking part in a NATO-led mission, Brig Gen Gerry Hegarty would command a multinational taskforce. As the 20th century ended the DF had gained a hard-won and well-deserved reputation as proficient peacekeepers ca- pable of deploying and working with international partners on UN, EU, OSCE, NATO and member state-led operations. The current decade has continued to see an evolution in the type of crisis-management operations the Defence Forces par- ticipate in. For example, in 2010 a DF training team deployed to the EU Training Mission (EUTM) Somalia. The small group of officer and NCO instructors were deployed as part of a multi- national team training the Somali armed forces. EUTM-Somalia would be led in succession by two Irish of- ficers, Col Michael Beary and Brig Gen Ger Aherne. (The now Maj Gen Beary is the current Head of Mission and FC UNIFIL, and with the late Lt Gen Callaghan, referred to above, is one of only two Irish officers to command more than one multina- tional peace-support operation.) Two major developments occurred in 2015. In January, the first of two medical detachments from the Central Medical Unit deployed to Sierra Leone as part of the successful British Army-led operation that participated in the fight against an Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The significance of this deploy- ment was that it was by government direction rather than at the request of an international organisation. Simultaneously, other personnel deployed to the Irish embassy in Freetown as part of an emergency assistance team to assist consular staff in coordinating their response to the crisis. Having seen the army conducting and leading peace- support operations since 1958, the deployment of LÉ Eithne, under the command of Cdr Pearse O'Donnell, to participate in bilateral migrant rescue operations with the Italian navy in the Mediterranean in May 2015, was a momentous occasion; arguably of equivalent significance to 32 Inf Bn's deployment to Congo in 1960. The deployment of NS vessels to the Mediterranean continues in 2018, although now with the EU Naval Force, Operation Sophia. For 60 years the men and women of Óglaigh na hÉireann have represented Ireland with pride while conducting peace- support operations throughout the world. Their success is a function of their training, leadership, experience, professional- ism and equipment. This anniversary presents an opportunity to learn about and commemorate the almost 64,000 individu- al tours of duty that have been completed. It will also be used to honour the memory of the 87 Irish peacekeepers who gave their lives in the cause of international peace and security. The story of Ireland's participation in peace-support opera- tions is ongoing, and the future will surely hold leadership challenges for the officers and NCOs who will follow in the footsteps of Col Justin McCarthy, Coy Sgt Felix Grant, Lt Gen Seán MacEoin, and the other officers and NCOs who acted as pathfinders for today's generation of soldiers, sailors and aircrew that provide Ireland with her peacekeepers. about the author: Lt Col Timothy O'Brien is School Comman- dant, United Nations Training School Ireland. He has served on UN- and NATO-led peace-support operations in Lebanon, East Timor, Afghanistan, DR Congo and Syria. First Medical Detachment from CMU returning to Baldonnel from Sierra Leone on 22nd May 2015. They had been deployed on the British Army Operation Gritrock, which was battling the Ebola virus epidemic that had hit the country. The returning personnel are being greeted by GOC Air Corps Brig Gen Paul Fry, OC CMU Col Peter Marron and DJ3/J5 Col Phil Brennan. Coy Sgt Mitch Bohan and Comdt TC O'Brien, QRF 43 Inf Gp, pictured in the Fijian UN Position 31, Golan Heights on 22nd February 2014, during a recce patrol to the position. 43 Inf Gp were the first Defence Forces unit to deploy to Syria in September 2013.

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