Retired Lieut Col Dan Harvey said the Defence Forces is "broken" and "in crisis" with "morale at an all-time low," because they are "overlooked and undervalued, overworked, underpaid, over-stretched and undermanned."

The family of the late Taoiseach Jack Lynch has urged the State to ensure his lasting legacy of leadership contributes to a better Ireland.

From deployment in The Congo in the 1960s to present day operations in the Golan Heights Irish soldiers have found themselves in combat situations. Ryle Dwyer reads Dan Harvey’s book on our Blue Berets.

IRISH troops are leading a mission in Chad to protect refugee farmers returning to their land and reassure villages of their safety under the protection of EU troops.

IRISH troops in Chad were monitoring the security situation in the troubled African country last night following an explosion in the capital, N’djamena.

IRISH troops have had more than 200 encounters with armed bandits and have come under fire while defending refugee camps in Chad, the mid-term review of the mission to the embattled African state has been told.

BOTH the UN and Javier Solana, the EU’s foreign policy chief, have defended the actions of Irish troops in Chad when armed groups tried to attack refugee camps and NGO compounds at the weekend.

IRISH troops came under fire from rebel groups in Chad where they are protecting refugee camps close to the Darfur border.

IRISH troops arriving in Chad face a race against time to establish their presence before the rainy season turns their baking desert home into a sea of mud.

A HUGE shipment of army weapons and essential supplies to equip Irish troops in Chad is scheduled to land in west Africa tomorrow.

DEFENCE Minister Willie O’Dea will meet military chiefs in Paris today ahead of theexpected deployment of Irish and international troops to Chad next week.

THE man in charge of Collins Barracks, Cork has been given the most senior rank ever attained by an Irish Army officer and at the same time appointed guardian of 50,000 refugees who have fled fighting in Darfur.

CORK’S Collins Barracks will tomorrow become the first Irish army barracks to open a military museum to the public.

A NUMBER of psychics are helping gardaí in their quest to find Robert Holohan, the 11-year-old schoolboy who it is feared may have been abducted from near his Co Cork home.

PEOPLE from as far away as Dublin and Mayo joined up to 1,200 volunteers yesterday as the search intensified for missing schoolboy Robert Holohan.

PEOPLE from as far away as Dublin and Mayo joined up to 1,200 volunteers yesterday as the search intensified for missing schoolboy Robert Holohan.