History of the Irish Defence Forces’ involvement in UN missions
The Defence Forces first deployed its personnel on overseas missions with the UN in 1958. In their continuing and diverse overseas deployments since then the Defence Forces have long faced the challenge of protecting civilians in a myriad of complex mandates.
"This unbroken service since 1958 has come with a price. To date, eighty five Defence Forces personnel have lost their lives in the service of peace, forty seven of them serving with the UN in Lebanon."
The deployments have taken the Defence Forces to the Middle East, Africa, the Balkans, Central America and the Pacific Rim. The Defence Forces also contribute contingents and individual personnel to missions mounted by Regional Organisations such as the European Union (EU), the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), all acting under the mandate, or authority, of the UN, and in compliance with the requirements of Irish national legislation.
This unbroken service since 1958 has come with a price. To date, eighty five Defence Forces personnel have lost their lives in the service of peace, forty seven of them serving with the UN in Lebanon. Our Defence Forces deployed overseas are one of the most visible manifestations of Irish Foreign Policy. Through this effort we have saved countless lives and made a significant contribution to International Peace and Security. It is a contribution of which the Defence Forces, and indeed the Irish nation, are justifiably proud.
The Defence Forces’ most recently completed deployment was in Chad and the neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR), over a continuous two and a half year period, initially with an EU Force, and latterly with a UN Force. United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) 1778 and 1861 underpinned these deployments. These UNSCRs stand out in that the outputs of the forces were overwhelmingly targeted in direct support to the humanitarian actors operating in the affected regions of these two countries, primarily in support of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). Some 1.2 million people were, and still are, affected by the humanitarian tragedy there, including refugees from Darfur in Sudan, IDPs from Chad and CAR, and host communities in whose hinterlands both of these groupings are temporarily residing. In addition to the daily struggle of hunger, these destitute peoples were afflicted with the added burden of banditry and criminality brought about by the low level of sovereign government security and law enforcement in these regions. The daily chore of women, in particular, gathering water and firewood outside of the camps was fraught with danger; rape was commonplace.
"Since 1958, to date, members of the Defence Forces have witnessed at first hand the personal trauma that is refugee and IDP status. The Defence Forces will continue to ‘fly the flag’ in support of the most dispossessed of the dispossessed. It is a noble calling."
The international military presence stabilized the security situation, minimised banditry and criminality, and allowed humanitarian actors to operate unhindered. It bought time for the sovereign authorities to build security capacity, but most especially hastened the rapprochement between Chad and Sudan in the endeavours of the international community to advance solutions to the tragedy that is Darfur. The pivotal contribution of the Defence Forces in the region is but the most recent example of their contribution in parts of the world where human tragedy abounds, and where the populations directly affected are most frequently refugees and IDPs.
Since 1958, to date, members of the Defence Forces have witnessed at first hand the personal trauma that is refugee and IDP status. They are unique witnesses in Ireland to that reality. The need for their deployment to these trouble spots of the world is unlikely to diminish in the near future. The Defence Forces will continue to ‘fly the flag’ in support of the most dispossessed of the dispossessed. It is a noble calling.
Gerald Aherne, former Deputy Force Commander for MINURCAT Mission in Chad.
