Up to 200 Irish soldiers could be sent to the Lebanon if a ceasefire backed by a political deal between Israel and Hizbullah is established, Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea said yesterday.
However, he emphasised the Government would not consider such a move until a ceasefire is established, perhaps following this week's efforts at the UN Security Council.
"My own personal opinion, though I wouldn't want to pre-empt the Government, is that we shouldn't send any troops to Lebanon in the absence of a ceasefire, and some sort of political deal to underpin the ceasefire," he told The Irish Times yesterday.
The Defence Forces, which are not supposed to have more than 850 troops abroad at one time, could cope with a United Nations request for soldiers if one comes, he said.
"Yes, our top commitment for having troops abroad at any one time is 850, but you can breach that for short periods. At the moment we have about 670 abroad, so we are talking about 200 as things stand at the moment.
"Also bear in mind that we are in the process of withdrawing from Liberia, where we have the largest single foreign contingent. At the moment, we are down there to about 375 troops in Liberia. The last will be home by next May, but they will be gradually coming over that period. So at a minimum we would have 200 troops if it came to that, if we made such a decision (to station troops in the Lebanon), but we are a long way from that yet," he said.
The Minister also referred to last week's killing by Israeli artillery fire of four UN observers from Finland, Austria, Canada and China at an observation post in Khiam, south Lebanon.
The attack was "certainly reckless and may have been deliberate", he said. Seventeen Irish soldiers are currently working with the UN's observer mission in south Lebanon, led by Lieut Col John Molloy, who repeatedly warned the Israelis last week that they were firing on UN soldiers.
"We were lucky not to have suffered fatalities when the UN observation post was hit. We were saved only because of rostering, only because our people weren't there at the time," Mr O'Dea said.
Lieut Col Molloy's six warnings had been very detailed, the Minister said. "The last warning he gave was that the shelling was so close, the door to the observation post had been blown-off. Yet, those warnings appear to have been ignored," he said.
The Government would not withdraw the existing Irish troops in Lebanon, he said: "Morale is quiet high there amongst them. They are happy to be doing the humanitarian-type work that they are doing. I am in touch daily with the Chief of Staff (Lieut Gen Jim Sreenan)," Mr O'Dea said.
The Israeli defence forces decision to continue to shell the Khiam UN post as Indian troops went to rescue the injured gave rise to concern, he said.
"My own judgment is that at the very minimum it was grossly reckless. It may have been deliberate. The Israeli Ambassador (Daniel Megiddo) assured us during the week that it wasn't deliberate. I have to take his word for that," Mr O'Dea said.