Some160 Irish troops due to return home today from a peacekeeping mission in Kosovo are stranded in the Balkans due to ongoing flight restrictions over Europe.
A chartered plane sent out to bring back the soldiers has been grounded as a result of the volcanic ash. The troops, mainly from the Eastern Brigade, will remain at Camp Clarke, outside the Kosovan capital Pristina, until restrictions are lifted.
In a statement early this evening, the Defence Forces said any redeployment today had been ruled out and the situation would be monitored overnight.
Earlier, a Defence Forces spokesman said everything possible was being done to get the mission back. “We are trying to get the troops back as soon as we can,” he said. “Their families are waiting for them to come back but obviously we are constricted by the air space restrictions.”
The mission, drawn mostly from battalions based in Dublin and Dundalk, have been winding down operations in Kosovo over the past six months.
They are one of the last major deployments overseas, with the peace-enforcement mission in Chad expected to return in the summer.
About 200 troops were based at Camp Clarke, in Lipljan, about 15km south of Pristina, where they still have access to “all possible comforts, including gym, canteen and cookhouse facilities”, said the Defence Forces.
Some 160 of them will return to Dublin airport on a chartered plane - currently grounded in Prague - as soon as Irish airspace is reopened.
Forty logistics staff will return later after dismantling the camp, while 12 senior soldiers will remain at the Kfor headquarters in Kosovo.
Returning troops have been granted four weeks’ leave from duty after they arrive Ireland.
PA