FG leader to visit Irish peacekeepers in Kosovo

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny is due to visit Irish soldiers on peacekeeping duty in Kosovo in the next few days.

Mr Kenny and his party's defence spokesman Billy Timmins are due to spend three days in the Serb province, where around 200 Irish troops are involved in a NATO-led mission.

Speaking ahead of his trip, the Fine Gael leader, whose party wants to abandon the notion of Irish neutrality, criticised the Government's "triple-lock" system for Irish military missions abroad.

He said the requirement that all missions must have government approval, Dáil approval and a UN mandate was excessively restrictive.