Irish troops will withdraw from Liberia at the end of next year, but the Army's commitment to the UN and EU missions in Bosnia-Herzegovina and in Kosovo are likely to be extended, Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea has said.
In Sarajevo last night after two days of top-level international military and diplomatic briefings, Mr O'Dea said the continued instability in the Balkans meant Irish troops would be needed long after Ireland's commitment to the region expired in 18 months.
He said Irish troops would remain in Kosovo and Bosnia for many years.
"Hopefully, we won't be still here in a decade, but we remain committed to this region in the meantime," Mr O'Dea said.
He made his comments after a meeting in Sarajevo with Maj Gen David Leaky, the commanding officer of the European Union Forces (Eufor), and the UN's High Representative in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lord Ashdown.
Ireland currently has 420 troops based at Camp Clara in the Liberian capital, Monrovia. The troops have been part of the international mission there for almost two years.
The Government had agreed they would stay until the end of next year, at which time the situation was to be reviewed again. However, Mr O'Dea had said that currently there were no plans for an extension and that the deployment would withdraw in 18 months. He said the "job is done" in Liberia.
The ending of this commitment would allow for the 275 troops with the Eufor mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Kfor mission in Kosovo to remain without Ireland having to compromise on any commitment it might give to the EU battlegroups proposal.
This would involve groups of 850 soldiers, known as battlegroups, being deployed to trouble spots all over the world at short notice. He had been at talks in Brussels last week on the issue of battlegroups, and there remained many issues to be resolved before the concept would become a reality, Mr O'Dea said.
It had proved particularly difficult to resolve outstanding issues surrounding mixed-nationality battlegroups, where a number of countries would contribute troops to make up one 850-strong group. These issues included the nature and location of any training that the multinational groups would undergo before deployment and also the funding of such groups.
Domestically a number of hurdles also had to be negotiated. Our Constitution states that foreign troops cannot train in Ireland under their own command. Also, large parties of troops could not be sent overseas unless we were willing to bypass the triple-lock mechanism under which any deployment must be approved by the Government, the Dáil and the United Nations.
The EU and not the UN, would dictate where and when the battlegroups would train and operate. "We could get around that problem if the United Nations issued a general mandate on training, but we don't have to face that problem yet as the formation of the battlegroups will not meet its original deadline," Mr O'Dea said.
Based on his visit to Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina it was clear to him that the region would need a strong international military presence for a long time. Irish troops would be part of this.
Serious problems remained in both entities, ethnic tensions continued to run deep and the possibility of serious unrest remained.