Cabinet to be briefed on Lebanon situation

The Cabinet will be briefed on the situation in Lebanon by the Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea this morning when it meets for…

The Cabinet will be briefed on the situation in Lebanon by the Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea this morning when it meets for the first time since the summer break.

However, it is not expected to make a decision today on whether to send Irish troops to participate in a UN force.

Under the "triple-lock" mechanism for sending Irish soldiers overseas Dail approvalwill be required. However, the Dail is not due to resume until September 27th and is unlikely to be recalled before that.

It has already been decided that any Irish involvement would not be within the first wave of 15,000 troops and that Ireland's troop commitment would be relatively small. Between 100 and 150 soldiers.

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Ahead of the Cabinet meeting the Peace and Neutrality Alliance (Pana) issued a statement saying that they would oppose Irish soldiers being involved in any peacekeeping force.

According to Pana, UN resolution 1701 is too ambiguous to prevent further conflict. It adds, that by "turning Shannon Airport into a US airforce base" Irish neutrality has been undermined.

The Irish Anti-War Movement (IAWM) also re-iterated its call on the Government not to send troops to Lebanon under UN resolution 1701.

" The IAWM believe UN resolution 1701 is an ambiguous and biased document that Israel and the US are already attempting to interpret as a mandate to disarm Hizbollah - a certain recipe for further conflict," the group said in a statement.

David Labanyi

David Labanyi

David Labanyi is the Head of Audience with The Irish Times