Ireland will continue sending troops on overseas missions even if the mandate for Unifil, the peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, is withdrawn at a crucial UN vote on Monday, the Defence Forces chief says.
Ireland, along with Lebanon and Italy, has been lobbying its international counterparts to renew the mission for another year in the face of opposition from Israel and the United States.
Israel has accused Unifil of failing in its duty to disarm the Lebanese militant group Hizbullah. Tel Aviv is now attempting to persuade Washington to withdraw support for the mission.
Ireland and like-minded countries believe the peacekeeping mission is vital to stability in the region. Unifil is the Defence Force’s largest overseas mission, with around 350 Irish peacekeepers.
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It is the Defence Force’s only major overseas mission. Military officials see continued Irish involvement as crucial to recruitment and retention of personnel.
The United Nations Security Council is to vote on renewing the mission’s mandate on Monday. It will consider a French proposal to extend the mission for a year after which the Lebanese Army will take over its duties.
Speaking to the Defence Forces’ internal podcast, Lieut Gen Rossa Mulcahy, who took over as chief of staff in June, said “the worst-case scenario” was the mandate was not renewed and UN forces would have to withdraw.
“If you ask me to put a bet on it, I’d say the mandate will more than likely will be renewed in some way, shape or form,” he said. Any decision would be for the Government however. “We’ll advise the Government and then the Government will decide.”
He said overseas missions were crucial for developing military capabilities and testing doctrines and equipment. It was also a key part of soldiers’ personal and professional development, he said.
Regardless of the result of Monday’s vote, the Defence Forces “absolutely” intended to keep a presence overseas “be it on Unifil or other missions”, Lieut Gen Mulcahy said.
He said the UN had been “challenged” in getting new missions off the ground and that future Irish overseas service might take place under other banners such as the European Union rapid deployable capability, to which Ireland contributes about 140 troops.
“We will always seek to have Irish troops involved in some kind of missions overseas,” he said.
Lieut Gen Mulcahy said the Air Corps and Naval Service, which are being renamed the Air Force and Navy respectively, would also be more involved in overseas service, a task which has been traditionally dominated by the Army.
Once the strength of the Naval Service was increased, “we absolutely will look to get a naval service ship deployed overseas”, he said.
The Defence Forces is only able to put just two ships to sea at a time due to crew shortages. Efforts are under way to restore the fleet to seven operational ships and eventually increase it to 12.
One of the Defence Forces’ new maritime patrol aircraft could also be deployed for several weeks at a time to maritime missions in the Mediterranean, he said. In time, longer-term missions could be found for the Army, Navy and Air Force.
“The future is very bright. We’re on a different trajectory now in the Defence Forces than we have been in the past. So I would say everything is on the table,” Lieut Gen Mulcahy said.
