IRISH SOLDIERS working as United Nations peacekeepers have brought “pride, praise and prominence” to Ireland, Minister for Defence Alan Shatter said yesterday at a ceremony to remember those killed on duty.
Over a dozen wreaths were laid at the Irish-UN memorial garden, on Mount Temple Road in Dublin, in front of 200 military personnel, UN veterans, gardaí, politicians and family members of those killed in service abroad.
Some 91 Irish UN peacekeepers have lost their lives since 1960 serving as peacekeepers in Congo, Cyprus, Lebanon, Somalia, Bosnia, East Timor, Liberia, Syria and Haiti.
“These many operations have brought pride, praise and prominence to the Defence Forces and to Ireland . . . this is a unique record, and one in which the Defence Forces and the Irish people are justifiably very proud,” Mr Shatter said.
He added he had seen first-hand the role Irish peacekeepers play when he visited Lebanon with President Mary McAleese earlier this year. “[We saw] the high esteem in which the Defence Forces are held by the local Lebanese, who are used to us coming out there and helping to maintain peace in what is a difficult and volatile region.”
He also praised the role played by An Garda Síochána in peacekeeping missions, which he said “has developed significantly over the past couple of decades” since they were first sent to assist in Libya in 1989.
The chairman of the Irish-United Nations Veterans’ Association, Michael Butler, called November 8th a “very significant date” for Ireland as it is the anniversary of the Niemba ambush, in which nine Irish soldiers died in 1960 while serving in Congo.
Among those who laid wreaths were Lord Mayor of Dublin Andrew Montague, relatives of the dead soldiers, and veterans of peacekeeping tours, including Tom Kenny – one of only two Irish peacekeepers who survived the Niemba ambush 51 years ago.
While the names of all the 91 Irish peacekeepers who died were read out, special mention was made of the 10 Irishmen who died in 1961 while serving in Congo to mark the 50th anniversary of their deaths.