SOME 160 Irish troops were due to arrive in Chad this morning as part of the first full deployment of Irish personnel to the EU peace enforcement mission (Eufor) in the troubled African country.
The soldiers, from the Western Brigade, left Dublin last night on board a civilian charter flight and were due to land in the Chadian capital, N'Djamena, at 9am today.
They are scheduled to begin their journey eastwards tomorrow morning to Goz Beida, which will be their base for the next four months.
The group will be joined by a second deployment of personnel on June 1st, bringing to around 400 the full strength of the Irish battalion that will be in the country for at least one year.
Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea said the mission would be the most challenging ever faced by the Defence Forces.
"The mission in Chad, without doubt, has its risks but more than 400,000 refugees fleeing the bloody conflict in Darfur need our help," he said.
While the troops were well prepared and had trained for the mission their departure was a difficult time for their families, he added.
The Irish arrive in Chad at a time of rising tensions.
In February a rebel army took the Chadian government and international community by surprise by staging an attack on N'Djamena which was much better organised and executed than expected and forced the closure of the city's airport.
There have also been incursions into eastern Chad, where the Irish will be based, by rebel groups from the Darfur region in neighbouring Sudan in recent months.
The Irish Army has had a presence in Chad since February, when the elite Ranger Wing went into the country as an initial entry force.
These were joined four weeks ago by an Irish advance party which has prepared the ground, including constructing a base camp, for the arrival of the full battalion.
The departure of the Ranger Wing was delayed for a number of weeks because of the failed rebel attack on N'Djamena in February.
The troops arriving in Chad today represent the substantive Irish deployment.
Some 26 Dutch troops who will serve on the EU mission travelled to Chad with the Irish overnight.
The Irish will provide protection to internally displaced persons, refugees who fled unrest in the Darfur region of neighbouring Sudan and also those who have entered Chad to escape fighting in the Central African Republic.
A spokesman for the Defence Forces said there are currently 430,000 refugees and internally displaced persons in 42 camps in eastern Chad.
The Irish troops will also conduct short and long range patrols in an area around the size of Munster in a bid to shore up security in the region and assess threats on behalf of the UN-backed Eufor mission.
Ireland's commitment to the year-long mission is expected to cost about €57 million. The troops who arrived in Chad yesterday will be replaced by another group after four months with a third group to be deployed early next year.
The mission will be reviewed next March with an extension for one more year or longer a possibility.
Ireland is one of 14 participating member states in the French-led 4,000-strong Eufor mission. Chad is a former French colony.
The EU intervention was sanctioned by the UN in January because the multiple conflicts in Chad and surrounding region are deemed a threat to peace and security in the central African region.
Fianna Fáil MEP Eoin Ryan, who visited Chad at the weekend, said stability in the region would only be achieved if peace was brought to Darfur.
Mr Ryan, a member of the development aid committee of the European Parliament, said genocide was being carried out there that "must be condemned at every turn".
He said it was imperative the Eufor mission returned 20,000 internally displaced people to their homes in Chad before the rainy season begins in June, when much of the county will be impassable.
