Munster gardaí mark 21st anniversary of peackeeping duties

GARDAÍ, most of whom came from Munster, are preparing today to celebrate the 21st anniversary of their first role in UN peacekeeping.

Memories flooded back for many of them who travelled to Namibia to oversee its transition to independence after 75 years of South African rule.

The government of the time had to pass the Garda Siochána Act, allowing police members to serve overseas with the UN.

Superintendent Tom Lundon, who is in charge of Bruff garda district in Co Limerick, helped save a young boy’s eyesight while there. He came across the 10-year-old in the bush and knew he had a major eye infection.

Supt Lundon said: “I took him to a Swedish doctor working for the UN, Enrique Steiger. Unfortunately the boy lost sight in one eye, but the doctor managed to save the other.”

To get the boy away from his father, Tom had to pay the old man. “They weren’t used to white officers and he [the father] thought that if I gave him money I’d have to bring him [the son] back. I gave him a few dollars which was a fortune to them at the time. I never looked for it back,” Supt Lundon said.

He keeps in touch with Dr Steiger, who is now one of the leading cosmetic surgeons in the world, treating many Hollywood stars at his clinic in Geneva.

“He’s an extraordinary man. He packs up his bags every so often and flies to Afghanistan where he treats (for free) children who have been scarred in the war,” Supt Lundon said.

He said the Namibian experience, which lasted nearly a year, changed his life forever. “I realised how lucky we were in this country.”

John Murray, now retired, was sergeant at McCurtain Street Garda Station in Cork at the time and also has fond memories of the trip.

John, who lives in Ballinspittle, was appointed UN liaison officer and had to keep channels of communications open, especially with the Angolan army poised on the border.

Prior to their arrival, there had been a lot of fighting near the border between the South West African People’s Organisation and the South African Defence Forces which left 350 dead.

“I almost became one of the people,” he said. “I took to the bush like a duck takes to water. The people were simple, lovely and very welcoming. I kept a dairy of the whole trip and have just opened it again.”

John Lehane, who still serves as a sergeant in Anglesea Street, Cork, went back to Namibia after his 1980 tour of duty to see how the country had progressed.

“A lot of African countries go belly-up after independence, but thankfully Namibia is very stable. It has great deserts and wildlife parks, so earns a lot from tourism. It is also rich in diamonds,” Sgt Lehane said.

“I have a lot of happy memories of the country. I was among the first 35 gardaí who first went out there, although 50 in total served in Namibia at that time. A lot of us who served there still keep in touch with each other.”

A plaque commemorating the Namibian tour of duty is to be unveiled at Garda headquarters on April 1 by Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan and Justice Minister Alan Shatter.