The Irish army will today participate in the first overseas group training exercise in the history of the State.
Troops will leave for Sweden to join soldiers from four other nations ahead of participation in a new Nordic EU battlegroup from January.
Almost 100 Irish soldiers will join others from Sweden, Finland, Norway and Estonia in northern Sweden for the next four weeks.
The group, which collectively numbers 2,600, will take part in an exercise across Sweden to improve the co-ordination of the forces.