'They are wonderful ambassadors for our country': Taoiseach reflects on visit to Irish soldiers in Lebanon
Taoiseach Micheál Martin during his visit to Camp Shamrock in Lebanon on Saturday. Picture: Irish Defence Forces
The minute’s silence in Peacekeepers’ Square in Camp Shamrock on Saturday afternoon seemed all the more profound as it was accompanied by a low burble from the square’s fountain and a distant hum, probably signifying a snooping Israeli drone.
The national flag flew at half-mast in the sunlight, and the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, stood stock still, while around the square soldiers and civilians remembered the Irish citizens who have died serving as United Nations peacekeepers over the past seven decades.
Mr Martin laid a wreath and the Last Post played. Fr Declan Shannon, Camp Shamrock’s chaplain, said that to remember the selflessness of those who gave their lives in the cause of peacekeeping was “not only noble, but sacred”.
Foremost in the thoughts of many there was 24-year-old Private Seán Rooney, killed three years ago this month when the convoy he was travelling in came under fire from Hezbollah militants.
Every month, a minute’s silence is held at Peacekeepers’ Square, and the names of those whose anniversaries fall that month are read aloud.
As well as Seán Rooney, other names were listed by Fr Shannon: Corporal Thomas Reynolds,35, who died on Christmas Eve, 1987; and Pte John Marshall, 20, who died on December 17, 1980. Pte William O’Brien, 25, died on December 6, 1986, and his grandnephew is currently serving in Camp Shamrock. Cpl Martin Tynan, 30, died on December 13, 1992, and his son Martin is also serving on the current mission in Lebanon.
It is 67 years since Ireland first contributed peacekeeping troops to the United Nations, when, in June 1958, 50 Irish officers were deployed to the UN observer group in Lebanon. Since then, 88 Irish soldiers and one member of An Garda Síochána have given their lives in the service of peace overseas, 48 of them in Lebanon.
Tens of thousands of members of the Irish Defence Forces have served with Unifil (United Nations Interim Forces In Lebanon) since it was established in 1978, with 366 troops currently serving in Camp Shamrock.
Officially designated UN base UNP 2-45, Camp Shamrock is situated about 7km from the border with Israel and is also home to Hungarian, Polish and Maltese peacekeepers. The UN Security Council mandate for Unifil is due to expire by December 2026, with Irish troops currently expected to withdraw fully from Lebanon by 2027.
These are worrying times in Lebanon, and locals fear the impending withdrawal will mean the eyes and ears of the world will no longer be on their vulnerable land, leading to a resumption of hostilities between the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and an expansionist Israel.
The road south from Beirut to Camp Shamrock is lined with bombed-out buildings and rubble, and hundreds of portraits of so-called martyrs from the most recent war between Hezbollah and Israel, which began in 2023 and left almost 4,000 people dead in Lebanon and more than a million displaced by the time of the eventual November 2024 ceasefire.
In the mess in Camp Shamrock, the Taoiseach spent more than an hour meeting the troops, chatting at length with — it seemed — every single person, betraying only the slightest bias toward those from his home county.
One of those Mr Martin met was 21-year-old Pte Adam Rooney from Carrigtwohill, a signalman on his first deployment, and the son of two soldiers who also served in Lebanon. Pte Rooney said it was a great honour to follow in his parents’ footsteps to Camp Shamrock.
“Growing up, hearing all the stories and all the memories that they made, I’m very proud to be out here now and to be able to make my own memories and my own stories to tell, hopefully down the line, my own kids,” he said.
Sending Christmas wishes to his family and his partner Leah, he had one Christmas wish for Carrigtwohill: “Hopefully we could drive it on in the hurling."
Pte Dan O’Mahony, 27,, from Passage West, said he was in the army eight years, and on his third trip overseas, and his second to Lebanon.
“I want to send Christmas greetings home to my mother, my father, my sister in Australia, and my brother Fionn, who’s also a serving member in the Defence Forces, who was out here last year, and my father is an ex-serviceman as well, for 38 years,” he said.
“I just want to let them all know I’m thinking of them.”
Before he left, the Taoiseach introduced the to Gunner Mohammed Sammour, a 24-year-old from Bettystown in Co Meath. Born in Syria, when he was very young his family moved to Lebanon, where they lived in camps, and in 2018 they came to Ireland as refugees.
In 2022, he joined the Defence Forces, saying he wanted to give something back, and he is based in Custume Barracks in Athlone.
“I am so grateful to the Irish people for being so friendly and kind, and that is why I am in the Defence Forces, to give service to my country,” he said.
In common with the other Irish soldiers in Camp Shamrock, Gunner Sammour’s thoughts are of those at home this Christmas.
“To my parents, I miss you so much, to my girlfriend, Aiyaah, I love you, and we’ll be getting married next year,” he said.
Across almost half a century, Irish troops in Lebanon have protected a peace under almost constant under threat, while helping a local population living with the near-perpetual threat of war.
In a telephone interview after he returned to Ireland, Mr Martin told the he had found his visit a very uplifting experience.
“Our soldiers in Lebanon have a real commitment, they’re professionals, their standards are very high, they’re very decent people and they’re doing great good,” the Taoiseach said.
“They are wonderful ambassadors for our country.”
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