The first main installment of Irish troops destined for peacekeeping duty in Liberia will depart Dublin airport at midnight tonight.
170 members of the 90th Infantry Battalion are destined for a coastal area north of the Liberian capital, Monrovia.
They will form part of a rapid reaction force that will be fully operational when a further 264 troops from the same battalion arrive next week.
The remainder of the force will be made up of Swedish troops who will arrive in February provided they gain parliamentary approval for the move.
40 members of the Army Rangers Wing, who have been in Liberia since November 20th, will remain there for three months from that date.
In September, the United Nations Security Council approved up to 15,000 peacekeepers for Liberia.
So far the peacekeeping mission consists of some 4,700 mainly West African soldiers protecting the capital Monrovia.
Further disturbances arose in Liberia today, when government militia fighters, angry they were not paid immediately for turning in their weapons, beat people and fired guns into the air at a UN disarmament camp.
The fighters, who were supposed to hand their guns over to United Nations peacekeepers at the camp, also threw stones at passing cars.
"The situation at the camp has turned chaotic. We are trying to evacuate all the child soldiers who disarmed yesterday," said Allen Lincoln of child care organisation Don Bosco Homes.
"The fighters demand money. They are shooting in the air and beating people up," he added.
The United Nations launched a disarmament scheme on Sunday to cement an August peace agreement meant to draw a line under 14 years of bloody civil war in the West African country.
Hundreds of government fighters armed with Kalashnikovs, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars gathered on Sunday at Camp Schieffelin, 56 km (35 miles) east of the capital Monrovia, to turn in their weapons and be registered.
But many more refused to give up their arms and took them back home, saying they were disappointed because they had expected to be given money straight away. Some returned to the camp on Monday to vent their anger.
Fighters joining the disarmament scheme will be given $300 and vocational training, but they will only receive the first $150 at the end of a three-week demobilisation program.
"We are not fools. We were told to give our arms in return for money. This gun is my life, if I don't get money I won't hand in any weapons," said Lieutenant Paul Dust, a rocket-propelled grenade in his hands and a pistol tucked in his trousers.
"We will keep disturbing until the UN can give us money," he added.
Aid workers travelling on the road said they had to turn back because of the unrest.
Disarming some 40,000 fighters, many of whom are drugged-up young men inured to murder, rape and pillage, and reintegrating them into society is regarded as crucial to ending a war that has ruined Liberia and spread chaos across the region.
Rebel fighters are also due to start assembling in camps by the end of the year, although some rebel officials have cast doubt on this.
The UN force charged with disarmament will have 15,000 peacekeepers at full strength, making it the biggest UN
operation since the one that helped end a decade-long conflict in neighbouring Sierra Leone.
But so far the force only has 4,500 troops on the ground - not enough, according to the force commander, to effectively disarm thousands of wild fighters.