200 Irish troops back in Dublin from Lebanon

TWO hundred Irish troops with the 78th Infantry Battalion arrived back to Dublin airport at 12.25 this morning.

Led off the plane by Lieutenant Colonel John Graham, they were greeted by the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, the Minister for Defence, Mr Barrett, and the Army Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Gerry McMahon.

Speaking in the north terminal arrivals building immediately afterward, the Taoiseach announced that Mr Barrett and Lieutenant General McMahon would be visiting the Irish Unifil forces in South Lebanon next Sunday.

Mr Bruton said he was proud to welcome the troops home from "what proved to be a very dangerous mission". He spoke of his "great admiration" of their success in carrying out their humanitarian role and in negotiating several local ceasefires. He said they were a credit to the Army.

He spoke of the EU's continuing efforts in trying to broker a ceasefire, saying it was very difficult in a conflict that had been going on since the second World War, "but I believe violence serves nothing in the Middle East, just as it serves nothing elsewhere".

He was "very, very concerned" at the sophisticated weaponry used in attacking areas near the UN bases in South Lebanon which he condemned in the "strongest possible terms".

He did not anticipate the withdrawal of Irish troops from South Lebanon saying: "Ireland has a responsibility to make her troops available to peoples unfortunate enough to have war in their area, where they can provide food water and humanitarian aid."

The Taoiseach spoke of the EU's collective approach to the situation and of Ireland's continuing efforts to strengthen that approach and described as a "set back" the refusal of President Assad of Syria to meet the American Secretary of State, Mr Warren Christopher.

He said it must be becoming increasingly clear to both sides that a ceasefire would have to be brokered and that their political objectives were not being achieved by their present tactics.

A ceasefire should be followed by a reactivation of the peace process there "on the lines of the Syrian track", he said.