The case of two Irish soldiers who survived the notorious Niemba massacre in the Congo in November 1960, but have yet to receive medals 45 years later, is being raised in the Dáil by Independent TDs Finian McGrath and Tony Gregory, writes Deaglán de Bréadún
Thomas Kenny and Joseph Fitzpatrick, both now retired from the Army and living in Dublin, were the sole survivors from an -man Irish patrol on UN peacekeeping duty which was attacked by several hundred Baluba tribesmen at Niemba in the Congolese province of Katanga on November 8th, 1960.
All the other members of the patrol were awarded posthumous military decorations and one of them, trooper Anthony Browne, became the first recipient of An Bonn Míleata Calmachta (Military Medal for Gallantry), the Army's highest honour.
But there has been no decoration for either private Kenny or private Fitzpatrick, although the former received three wounds from poisoned arrows.
Controversy over the issue has flared again with the publication of a new book by a respected historian which challenges the standard version of events at Niemba.
The funeral of the Niemba victims in Dublin in November 1960 was one of the largest in the history of the State. However author David O'Donoghue is raising questions about the events surrounding the massacre in his new book, The Irish Army in the Congo 1960-64, published this month by Irish Academic Press.
O'Donoghue, who has also written a study of Nazi influence in Ireland during the second World War, questions the widely-accepted belief that trooper Browne, a single man, laid down his life at Niemba to save private Kenny, who had a wife and child back home in Dublin.
The official citation for trooper Browne's medal lends support to this version of events: "He had a reasonable opportunity to escape because he was not wounded but chose to remain with a wounded comrade."
But a secret Army report, published for the first time in O'Donoghue's book, describes how trooper Browne's body was found two years after the ambush at a distance of 2½ miles from the scene, indicating that he, too, had managed to escape, like Kenny and Fitzpatrick.
In an interview published in the book, the late Brig Gen PD Hogan, who was in charge of the search party which rescued Kenny and Fitzpatrick, confirms that Browne was still alive after the Niemba ambush and was killed by tribesmen "some days later", having "travelled some miles through the bush".
Trooper Browne's medal for gallantry was awarded in September 1961, but it was not until 1998 that the other eight victims were posthumously decorated and this was as part of a general award to all Irish soldiers who died on UN duty overseas.
While there is no suggestion that trooper Browne's conduct was anything other than exemplary, the issue of recognition for Mr Kenny and Mr Fitzpatrick is being raised by Mr McGrath, who submitted four questions on the matter last week to Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea. Mr Gregory is also submitting a question to Mr O'Dea.
Mr McGrath told The Irish Times he was due to receive written answers from the Minister tomorrow and, if these were unsatisfactory, he would raise the matter on the Order of Business in the Dáil on Wednesday and seek an emergency debate.
"I will keep raising it in the Dáil until the men get justice. I'm asking the Minister to deal with this dark shadow from the Congo mission. It's time these men should be given appropriate recognition for their work and also for the sheer horror they experienced that day."