Sad sojourn for festive peacekeepers

John Breslin visits Camp Clara in Liberia where 429 Irish UN troops will spend Christmas.

AGROUP of Irishmen and women will spend Christmas in the tropics, in what was once a holiday village for the well-heeled on a seaside peninsula with a sweeping sandy beach and spectacular views across the ocean.

But the chalets that housed this country’s elite were stripped bare by looters, the old luxury Hotel Africa guarding the entrance to the outcrop is a wrecked shell frequented by ladies of the night, and swimming in the heavily polluted sea is strictly prohibited.

What is now Camp Clara was once the domain of the crooked elite of Liberia but was overrun by looters and is now under the control of the United Nations. A metaphor for the country perhaps, except arguably the UN force does not enjoy full control of all parts of this troubled country.

The camp is home this Christmas to 429 Irish troops. Hundreds of homes will be missing daughters, sons, fathers and mothers. There are 250 from Cork alone serving in the west African state.

It’s just another day, they say, talking tough and claiming not to really mind spending Christmas in the sweltering tropical heat, keeping the peace in a broken-down state, away from home and families.

Then one young soldier, in a quiet moment away from the others, said: “you know, we’re just trying not to think about it.” To illustrate the point, she couldn’t immediately remember what day Christmas was on this year.

This contingent is the third since Ireland deployed troops a year ago. They arrived at the end of November and retain a fresh-faced eagerness despite the prospect of gruelling cross-country patrols that can last for days. There is always the potential for outbreaks of violence - a student protest earlier this week turned ugly while riots less than two months ago left 18 dead in the incredibly overcrowded and poverty-stricken capital Monrovia.

One of those patrols, 80-strong, arrived back from four days in the bush as President Mary McAleese was winding up her visit to Liberia, her first foreign trip since October’s inauguration. Grimy and tired, they stayed around to greet the President.

If the troops were playing down the sacrifice of spending the season away from home, President McAleese made sure to remind them what many in this country are feeling.

“We approach Christmas when families in Ireland gather around their own fires, safe and secure in each other’s company in a peaceful and prosperous country,” she said in her address to troops this week.

“You are far from home, in a strange place, a poor and wounded place, missing your children, your partners, your families and friends.

“Yes, you are paid soldiers but there is a remarkable human cost that in itself is indicative of the generosity of heart you bring to this work.” Many of the troops, those not out on patrol, will enjoy a traditional Christmas dinner in camp, surrounded by friends and with an opportunity to socialise in the camp bar, though it’s only open for two hours a day. It’s now a tented town dotted with the former chalets that have been fixed up to be used as offices.

The soldiers are not allowed out of the camp during their free time.

Some of the troops will be enjoying Christmas with family. There are six sets of siblings - including the three Higgins brothers from Fermoy, Shane, Trevor and Declan - and three married couples. In addition, 20 of the soldiers had fathers and grandfathers who served as peacekeepers in the Congo in the 1960s.

It’s not the first time Corporal Amy Mannix, one of more than 40 women serving in Liberia, and Sergeant Jim Daly, a married couple from Cork city, have spent Christmas away from home. Like many others now in Liberia, they did a tour together.

“We would probably have gone to my mother in laws if we were at home,” said Amy. Jim said: “It really will be like any other working day here. We’re used to being away from home.”

All three married couples are forbidden from being together while on tour. “The toughest time is about 10pm at night,” said Amy.

For Private Brendan Brennan, from Bundoran, it’s his third overseas tour having served twice in Lebanon. He agrees with Jim that it is just another day.

But he added: “If I was at home I would be going to a big family get together. I’ll phone home on Christmas day and maybe that will be a bit tough.”

Gemma O’Connor, a 19-year-old private, will be thinking of her mother and father and younger brother on the day.

The camogie Allstar winner, from Ballyphehane in Cork city, has only just qualified as a soldier. It’s a strange experience being in Liberia but a good opportunity, she says. If Christmas is a feeling, then many of the troops have been left entirely untouched and not only because the troops will be tucking into their turkey in temperatures of over 35 degrees.

The streets of Cork, Limerick and Dublin are packed with shoppers spending over the Christmas period the equivalent of the country’s entire GDP of around e3 billion.

There is a listless feel to Monrovia. Apart from the busy main market, there is a lack of bustle and noise of other African cities.

“The poverty is a real eye-opener when we first came over,” said Jim.

Liberia, carpeted by lush greenery, is a country rich in natural resources but 14 years of civil war has destroyed it.

The International Crisis Group, a leading global think tank, reported this week that peace remains fragile as Monrovia continues with no power grid and no sewage or water systems. Crime remains a huge problem, the UN exercises little control outside the major towns and principal roads. Ex-combatants continue to abuse the civilians. Corruption is rife.

For the Irish troops, sacrificing Christmas at home pales into near insignificance against that sort of backdrop.