Irish soldiers in Lebanon ‘holding up very well’ amid tensions in the Middle East

Irish soldiers in Lebanon are “holding up very well” amid growing tensions in the Middle East and are continuing to do their jobs in a tense environment, a senior Defence Forces member has said.

Lt Col Stephen MacEoin, commanding officer of the 123rd Battalion of the Defence Forces, expressed full confidence in the mission of peacekeeping troops to de-escalate tensions in Lebanon.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland as the battalion prepares for their next peacekeeping rotation as part of the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (Unifil) mission, he said the Irish troops play a valuable role by constantly monitoring the security situation in the region.

Hizbullah militants have been firing rockets into Israel from the Irish area of operations, raising fears Irish posts could be inadvertently hit in retaliatory attacks. Irish Unifil troops have had to take shelter in concrete bunkers on multiple occasions in the last two weeks due to overhead fire.

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Lt Col MacEoin said conditions for those on the mission at present were very tense and volatile, with regular exchanges of fire across the border between Lebanon and Israel. He said Irish soldiers were “holding up very well” and continue to do their job and maintain operational focus.

He said the mandate for the Irish troops was to protect civilians and also “maintain vigilance on the blue line and to observe, monitor and report any infractions” on it or elsewhere.

“So when we have a scenario where our troops are at risk and we have an order from our headquarters or from our own situational awareness, our soldiers may go into protective positions in bunkers which are well prepared and designed by our military engineers, our two armoured personnel carriers,” Lt Col MacEoin said.

“But it’s not like we completely stop operations. We maintain vigilance. And as soon as we have the opportunity, we get back on task and we get out doing our operations with the Lebanese armed forces to maintain a safe and secure environment for the people that are out there, the civilians.”

Lt Col MacEoin said Irish soldiers were not strangers to this type of scenario having worked on many UN missions around the world.

“What we’re bringing to the table is that we’re very renowned peacekeepers, really, and we have the military culture, the professional competence to deal with these scenarios. So we have been in these situations before, and I dare say, unfortunately, we’ll be in them again. But we’re trained just for this type of scenario.”

Obviously there was concern about an escalation in the conflict, he said, but the battalion was equipped for a tactical level of operations.

“Unfil plays an exceptionally important role as it hosts the tripartite meetings, which is really the only forum for dialogue between the two countries (Lebanon and Israel) and are constantly attempting to de-escalate the situation,” Lt Col MacEoin said.

“We provide very, very valuable information back to the headquarters to enable that process.”

The Defence Forces last week said while there have been exchanges of fire from both Lebanon and Israel across the Irish section, the Irish headquarters “has not experienced any projectiles falling in the immediate vicinity of their position”.