LIBERIA: head of elections tomorrow, Bill Corcoran goes on patrol with Irish troops in Monrovia.
"Incident and tension levels are low, and Monrovia remains calm, but unpredictable," Lieut Dave Clarke relays to the 35-man platoon of Irish troops he is taking on patrol to Gardner's Ville, one of the Liberian capital's outer suburbs.
"But lads, Nigerian troops took fire from armed robbers about half an hour from here last week," warns the 24-year-old during the mission briefing.
"So keep your eyes open for anything out of the ordinary, like illegal checkpoints and suspicious behaviour.
"Any questions?" he asks. There are none.
As Liberians prepare to go to the polls tomorrow in what many locals feel is the war-torn country's last chance for peace, United Nations troops are tasked with providing the peaceful environment needed to ensure a free and fair electoral process has a chance of taking place.
The Irish and Swedish contingents in Liberia are the UN's Quick Reaction Force (QRF), and as such are considered the sharp end of UN commander Lieut Gen Joseph Owinibi's armory, which contains over 15,000 troops.
Commanded by Lieut Col Declan Carbery, the QRF totals 639 personnel and is supported by helicopters and armoured personnel carriers (APCs), which are ready to be deployed within one hour's notice in case any of the armed factions that crippled the country up to two years ago were to resurface.
Indeed, the quick reaction force has been considered so successful by the UN that the director of peacekeeping operations in New York has stated that "provision of a robust reaction capability should be a priority enabling unit in all future Chapter 7 [ which allows an aggressive response to a deteriorating situation] peacekeeping missions."
In Liberia the most unpredictable locations in terms of a rapid escalation in violence are urban areas and the borders with adjoining countries like Ivory Coast, Guinea and Sierra Leone, from where rebel groups have launched attacks in the past.
Although over 100,000 weapons have been handed in as part of the UN's disarmament programme, commanders say they would be "very naïve" to believe that armed factions such as the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy and the Movement for Democracy in Liberia have been completely disarmed.
So, while a relatively peaceful environment prevails, the situation can deteriorate quickly.
To put it into context, the country's last dictator, Charles Taylor, entered Liberia with a ragtag force of a couple of hundred rebels in 1989, but within 12 months he had secured most of the countryside and was converging on the capital, Monrovia, with a force in the thousands.
Monrovia's residents do not have the stomach for another war and the presence of peacekeeping troops is a welcome sight.
The armed patrol carried out by Team Alpha of the Irish Army's 93rd Infantry Battalion last Saturday was greeted with a smile and a wave rather than fearful glances.
As part of their operation brief, the troops are encouraged to engage with locals so information can be garnered regarding potential trouble-makers in the area.
Once the foot patrol disembarked from the four APCs, the troops spread out into a standard patrol formation and moved slowly along the road.
Young children hurried from their homes and offered salutes and a smile; older locals just watched silently as the patrol moved slowly by.
"It's good to see the soldiers but I'd rather there was none around," says Al Jones-Darsale as the patrol moves past his stall on the side of the road.
"I'd rather we did not need them here, but I'm not scared: I'm used to it."
Would the troops rather be somewhere else as well? Not Private Mick Fadden from Co Donegal.
"I volunteered to come out here. This is my second time out, I was in Eritrea before.
"It's more dangerous here though, but the training we get is very intense so you feel able for it.
"I get a lot of satisfaction from this and it's nice to know you are helping people; I hope the elections go well for them," says the 28-year-old from Gweedore as he scans the roadside.
Private Lyndsay Brennan from Tubbercurry, Co Sligo, the only female platoon member, says women join the Army because they want to be in an environment in which they are treated as equals.
"I guess there is always a certain amount of hostility when you go on patrols like this. You are carrying a lot of live rounds after all and they know that.
"But I love the job and I want to make a career out of it," maintains the 20-year-old who has already done a stint in Kosovo.