130 members of the Defence Forces are, for the second time in a year, unable to return home to their families tomorrow.

Even a crash-out Brexit will be a children’s birthday party compared with what has been, and is being, suffered by the Palestinian people, writes Victoria White.

Today is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement for Jewish people. It is 45 years since the war which bore its name.

Pope Francis is to meet members of the Naval Service when he visits in August so he can acknowledge their role in saving thousands of migrants from drowning in the Mediterranean Sea.

If negotiations fail over the nuclear deal, the Islamic Republic will enrich uranium "more than before... in the next weeks".

Irish soldiers could be deployed in war-torn Syria before the end of the year, even though the country has become the centre of a new Cold War-era battle between Russia, the US, Britain, France, and their proxy allies.

The death of at least 14 UN peacekeeping troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo is another tragic reminder that these humanitarian missions are not without considerable risk.

Patrick ‘Bonnar’ Maher has a different read on Tipperary’s 2017 season to most hurling observers.

Priti Patel is thought to be on her way to Downing Street to learn her fate, after being summoned back from an official visit to Africa by Prime Minister Theresa May.

There were motional scenes at Casement Aerodrome in West Dublin this afternoon as 100 members of the Defence Forces arrived home.

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.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has rejected claims that he tried to intimidate a pilot who refused to fly him to Cork for a meeting in 2015, because of fog.

He also said his department is working to deal with a recruitment crisis in the Air Corps.

The army's 55th Infantry Group has been undergoing final training before deploying to Golan Heights next month.

Three whistleblowers complained at safety in Baldonnel. Why is the Government dragging its feet on the issue, asks Joe Leogue.

While the Naval Service may have stolen the limelight for its migrant rescue operations, it was one of the busiest years on record for the rest of the Defence Forces, both at home and abroad.

Young members of the Defence Forces are disillusioned and leaving the Army, Naval Service, and Air Corps in droves because they cannot afford to live on their wages.

Your letters, your views...

You may covet the silver Eoin Larkin possesses but you don’t want to see what he’s seen. Early in August, he acknowledged just how difficult he found it to get back up to speed — that is Kilkenny speed — after his six-month tour of duty with the Armed Forces in the Golan Heights.

Three test cases are being brought before the High Court in an attempt to force the Government to ensure that people serving in the Defence Forces can carry over all their annual leave entitlements from one year to the next.

A total of 4,807 hopefuls applied for 75 officer cadet vacancies in the Defence Forces — an average of 64 for every post.

Itamar Rabinovich, chief negotiator for Israel during the Yitzhak Rabin government (1992-5), wrote a book about the failed negotiations with Syria.

Israel has occupied the Syrian Golan Heights since 1967.

Given the disintegration of Syria and the consequent presence of Islamic terrorists within a day’s drive, is it any wonder that israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has categorically stated that “the Golan Heights will forever remain in Israeli hands” (World News,18 April)?

Service medals will be awarded to Irish Naval Service personnel who served on the historic humanitarian missions in the Mediterranean last year.

Thousands turn out to acknowledge role played by ordinary people in pivotal time in the State’s history

Martin D Stern (Letters, January 6) wrongly suggests that in my letter on January 13 I was trying to imply Israel was ultimately responsible for recent Saudi executions.

Am I alone in failing to understand the connection between Edward Horgan’s opening remarks (January 13) “Following the execution of 47 men in Saudi Arabia on January 2, the situation in the Middle East is deteriorating” and the remainder of his letter unless he wishes to imply that Israel was ultimately responsible for their deaths?

Following the execution of 47 men in Saudi Arabia on January 2, the situation in the Middle East is deteriorating. 

The review of Channel 4’s new television programme SAS Who Dares Wins which was carried on your website on Wednesday, October 19, appears to be completely oblivious to the fact that this is a so-called “game show” based around a regiment of the British army that is responsible for the deaths of Irish citizens.

More than 100 Irish troops return home today after a six-month mission in Syria's Golan Heights.

Almost exactly 12 months after his heart-warming proposal became an internet sensation, a romantic Irish solider has finally married the girl of his dreams.

Some fathers and sons play golf together or go fishing, but the McGaherns from Fermoy have a slightly different take on family time — they’ve both been deployed to troubled Golan Heights together.