President Mary McAleese will visit Camp Shamrock in the Lebanon this morning to visit peace-keeping troops and present medals to 72 personnel on their first overseas mission.

President McAleese will visit Irish peacekeeping troops in Lebanon this weekend on her final trip abroad.

Members of the defence forces have been deployed to south Lebanon to quell tensions. While their commander attests to their readiness for the mission, if violence escalates it could prevent a visit by President McAleese, writes Political Reporter Juno McEnroe in Tibnin.

IRISH troops on the frontline in south Lebanon are tasked with trying to keep a lid on tensions between the warring sides boiling over and threatening a fragile peace pact.

THE commander of UN peacekeeping troops in Lebanon said Irish soldiers have been given one of the country’s most dangerous “hotspots”, close to the contentious border with Israel.

Ninety members of the Defence Forces have left to take part in the new UNIFIL mission to Lebanon.

IRISH soldiers are to be deployed to a peacekeeping mission in Lebanon in the new year.

Hundreds of Irish soldiers are to be deployed to a peace-keeping mission in Lebanon in the new year, it was announced today.

Reports that a triple-killer may be extradited from a Dublin prison to the North is disturbing relatives of his victims, Justice Minister Michael McDowell said tonight.

THOUSANDS of Lebanese limped north to safety yesterday after weeks spent trapped by fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, including the war’s bloodiest ground battle.

IN recent weeks your letters page has been filled with various opinions in relation to the current situation in the Middle East.

A memorial service has taken place in Lebanon in memory of the 47 Irish soldiers who died on peacekeeping duties there during Ireland's involvement with the United Nation's Interim Force in Lebanon.