International forces at bomb squad camp

ARMY and police officers from the Netherlands, Romania, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland and Ireland have descended upon the north Cork hills for the first ever international training camp on detecting and dismantling bombs.

Due to the Troubles, the Irish army has a longstanding reputation in countering Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). This expertise was further built upon during deployment in Lebanon, Liberia, Kosovo and Chad. With this in mind, the Irish army devised this three-week long training camp aimed at improving detection, avoidance and dismantling of such devices.

All the officers are being taught to best international practice so they could, in theory, be deployed with confidence to hot spots like Afghanistan and Iraq. Senior Irish army officers are already deployed in Afghanistan where they are charged with IED strategy.