FF voices qualified support for Irish involvement in NATO force

FIANNA Fail would be likely to support a proposal for Irish troops to participate in the NATO led peacekeeping force in former…

FIANNA Fail would be likely to support a proposal for Irish troops to participate in the NATO led peacekeeping force in former Yugoslavia, the party's foreign affairs spokesman, Mr Ray Burke, has said.

While they would wait to hear details of a Government proposal before making a decision, he said, Fianna Fail would support Irish involvement in the force, Sfor, provided it is given a United Nations mandate.

Mr Burke was responding to a query from The Irish Times, following yesterday's report in this newspaper that the Defence Forces are making contingency plans to send troops to serve in the military force in former Yugoslavia. A Government decision on participation in the force is expected within weeks.

There are reports that a small "fact finding mission" will travel shortly to Bosnia to assess what role Irish troops could play. If the Government agrees that troops should be sent, the Dail will then have to approve the proposal. If agreed, it will be the first time Irish troops have served under NATO command.

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A senior NATO official told, The Irish Times yesterday that Irish participation in the NATO led peacekeeping force in Bosnia would be very, very welcome indeed". Even if an Irish contingent was very small, "we would be delighted to have an Irish presence because of the political importance of being able to co operate with Ireland," the official said.

But the Green Party MEP Ms Patricia McKenna, said she believed that sending Irish troops to Sfor would involve "an attempt to get us into PIP [the NATO sponsored Partnership for Peace programme] by the back door.

"NATO is a nuclear armed force, and now we are talking of putting Irish troops under NATO command. The public consultation promised in the White Paper on foreign policy was obviously just a PR exercise."

Mr Burke said that while the force in former Yugoslavia was led by NATO, it was there on foot of a UN Security Council resolution. "For 30 years we have made our troops available when requested by the UN," he said, and this should continue.

The NATO official said Ireland would have no problem having troops accepted into Sfor. It was not necessary for Ireland to be involved in the NATO sponsored Partnership for Peace programme before participating in the Bosnia force.

If Ireland wished to send troops the Government would have to write to the secretary general of NATO outlining what contribution it wished to make, the official said. It would then have discussions with NATO headquarters before signing a "partnership agreement". He said it would not be necessary to send a large number of troops. Many states had very small contingents in Sfor. Estonia has just three soldiers.