158 Irish troops depart on Lebanon peacekeeping mission

More than 150 Irish soldiers are due to depart for south Lebanon this morning as part of a peacekeeping mission arranged following the recent conflict in the area.

The 144 men and 14 women are being deployed to protect engineers from the Finnish Army who will be repairing infrastructure and removing unexploded bombs.

A UN-brokered ceasefire brought the 34-day war to an end on August 14, but experts believe millions of unexploded Israeli cluster bombs are still scattered around south Lebanon following the hostilities.

The Israeli bombardment also failed in its objective to wipe out Hezbollah, but Defence Minister Willie O'Dea has insisted that today's deployment was only taken after a proper assessment of the danger.

"We did a reconnaissance mission with the Finns to make sure that the situation was safe enough before we deployed troops," he said.

"It could change at any time, but we have taken a decision now so we are committed."