A review published this afternoon into the deaths in a landmine explosion of three Irish soldiers serving with the UN in Lebanon is highly critical of the circumstances of their deaths.
Among its five main findings is that the device while killed the soldiers in Bra’shit, south Lebanon on March 21st 1989, “should have or could have been detected before it detonated”.
Corporal Fintan Heneghan from Ballinrobe, Co Mayo, Private Mannix Armstrong from Sligo and Private Thomas Walsh from Tubbercurry, Co Sligo were killed in Lebanon when the truck in which they were travelling detonated a landmine.
Minister for Defence Alan Shatter has apologised to their families, who have been campaigning for justice for two decades. They had maintained the road had not been swept for mines before the men were sent out to collect stones.
“I met the families and extended to them, on behalf of the Government, our heartfelt regret for the failure to fully recognise, by early 1989, the implications of the changed circumstances in the Defence Forces mission area in southern Lebanon and for the deaths of their loved ones,” Mr Shatter said.
“While we can never be absolutely certain that their loved ones would have been saved if the Defence Forces had adopted a higher risk posture and appropriate protection measures, we must accept that appropriate operational procedures could possibly have avoided this tragedy.”
On five specific matters the review was required to enquire into relevant to the deaths of Cpl Heneghan, Pte Armstrong and Pte Walsh, it concluded that standard operational procedures were not appropriate and adequate to ensure the safety of the men or colleagues.
It found that there was “a failure to carry out an adequate threat assessment and to adopt appropriate force protection measures arising from that threat assessment”.
The report found that the device which killed the three soldiers “should have or could have been detected before it detonated” and that the persons deployed did not have adequate training in the circumstances.
The location, near an old United Nations Interim Force (Unifil) position on the outskirts of the village of Bra’shit, was not out of bounds to UN/Irish troops nor was there any reason why it should be out of bounds. However, it should not have been used until after it had been cleared for the presence of explosives.
The Defence Forces 64th Infantry Battalion served with Unifil in Lebanon from October 1988 to April 1989.
The families of the dead men have argued for two decades that they died needlessly and called for an inquiry. Last April the incoming Minister for Defence decided there was sufficient new material to warrant an independent review and Frank Callinan SC was appointed to conduct it. The new information came to light during preparations for a High Court case brought by Pte Armstrong’s widow, Gráinne. The action was later settled out of court.
The new information centred on evidence by Ordnance Officer Comdt Ray Lane, who had warned officials in Dublin about the increased threats four months before the men died. The concerns were also raised with Unifil.
Mr Callinan’s findings were published this afternoon. He highlighted the killing of Lt Aongus Murphy by a device in August 1986 and the discovery of two improvised explosive devices in May and November 1988. The barrister also acknowledged the Israeli abduction of Jawad Kasfi, and the reprisals or threat of reprisals against the personnel of the Irish Battalion - including the kidnapping of three members of Recce Company.
Mr Shatter said it was clear from the report that all engaged in the UN mission in Lebanon at that time “were doing the best they could in a very complex and difficult mission with limited resources.”
However the report had identified “a systemic failure, not alone by the Defence Forces but by the Unifil mission as a whole, to respond to the increased threat from improvised explosive devices and from the danger of a targeted attack by radical armed Islamic elements”, he said.
“We must learn from the past. I believe that the Defence Forces have learned from this failure to undertake an adequate threat assessment and deploy all necessary assets to protect our personnel, wherever they operate. Three men have died and three families have been bereaved and devastated by their loss. Our thoughts at this time must be with them,” he said.
“Unfortunately we can never undo what happened and what should not have happened. As the report shows, the deaths of Cpl Armstrong and Ptes Heneghan and Walsh could and should have been avoided," he said. “For that, on behalf of the State, I apologise wholeheartedly to their families, their loved ones and their comrades.”
In a statement, the Defence Forces Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Sean McCann, said he accepted the findings.
He met the families of the three soldiers today, and expressed his sincere regret that the procedures in place in the Defence Forces in 1989 were not sufficiently robust to prevent the deaths of the soldiers. “I wholeheartedly and unreservedly apologise,” he said.
