Irish troops in Chad to get ‘shoebox’ parcels from loved ones

SANTA Claus will be coming to the Irish troops serving in Chad this year, with the Department of Defence making arrangements for one parcel to be delivered to each of the 420 Irish Army personnel serving there.

Small bottles of whisky and Guinness will be allowed, but there will be no Christmas cake or any other Irish food treats because the boxes will take three weeks to deliver, in temperatures of up to 45C.

There is no postal service to the central African country and the United Nations cannot provide the logistics for delivery of presents or letters to troops from their loved ones back home.

But Defence Minister Willie O’Dea said special arrangements are being made to provide all families of troops there with a box the size of a shoe box, which will then be shipped to Africa and spend five days crossing land to get to the camps in time for Christmas.

He said the parcels “will be warmly welcomed by the families of our troops and I hope it will provide some comfort at this time of separation”.

Mr O’Dea said the “love, support and sacrifice” of families and friends is a great help to troops serving overseas.

“Our personnel bring the greatest honour to the Irish Flag and Ireland’s reputation for peacemaking across the globe. They are beacons of hope for so many and this is most evident in Chad where they are protecting refugees and ensuring vital humanitarian aid gets through to those fleeing the carnage and devastation in Darfur,” he said.

Advising families of how to fill the parcels, he said: “It is important to note that no perishable goods should be sent as the parcels will take 21 days from handover to reach our troops in Camp Ciara. They will travel through 40+ degree temperatures for four to five days of this journey.”