Two Irish soldiers injured in a roadside bomb attack in Lebanon were discharged from hospital yesterday and are expected to return to their duties within days.
The pair suffered cuts and bruises when a bomb smashed the windows of a white UN four-wheel drive vehicle at Ramiliya on Monday afternoon.
Regimental Sgt Maj (RSM) John McCormack and Company Sgt David Williams spoke to their families by phone on Monday evening and are said to be in "good spirits".
The pair spent the night in Hammoud Hospital in Saida and have returned to their UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) headquarters in Naquora.
The two men are among only seven Irish personnel left in Lebanon following the withdrawal of 160 Irish troops from the country late last year.
RSM McCormack (49), from Drimnagh, Dublin, has spent 29 years service in the Defence Forces. He is the base Sgt Maj at HQ Air Corps, Baldonnel, and has completed seven tours of duty with Unifil. He currently works in the Force Commander's Office in Unifil headquarters.
Company Sgt Williams (48), from Balbriggan, north Dublin, has 30 years service and has had four previous tours of duty in Lebanon. He was also working at Unifil headquarters and is based in the communications section at McKee Barracks in Dublin.
On Monday night the men were visited in hospital by Irish personnel who conveyed the best wishes of the Minister for Defence Minister Willie O'Dea and the Chief of Staff Lieut Gen Dermot Earley.
