‘Ireland will continue to play an outsize role in the United Nations’

Sorcha Crowley spoke with gardaí, soliders, and officials among the many Irish people promoting peace with the UN as it marks its 80th year — work that will continue despite the impending end of Unifil 
‘Ireland will continue to play an outsize role in the United Nations’

Clonakilty-based Garda Richard Casey on patrol in Cyprus. Ireland was among the original contributors to the UN peacekeeping mission set up in 1964 amid conflict between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.

1954, UN secretary general Dag Hammarskjöld, said “the United Nations was not created to bring us to heaven, but to save us from hell”.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of its inception and hardly a day goes by without several visions of hell flashing before our eyes despite the warnings from current UN secretary general António Guterres.

The need for the UN to be the conscience of the world has never been stronger.

And yet, beyond the headline horrors, the people of the UN are still “getting up every day all around the world trying to help those in need, trying to make the world a better place, putting their lives on the line, taking massive risks”, according to the most senior Irish person at UN headquarters, Michèle Griffin.

“And it’s an undertold story, of the humans who make up the UN in the face of a lot of scepticism,” she says.

Who are the Irish within the UN and what are they achieving?

The Irish Examiner spoke to six Irish men and women who walk ‘the blue line’ daily, in the name of peace.

Michèle Griffin, Dublin, electoral assistance director,
Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, UN headquarters, New York 

I’m head of the UN’s elections support which helps countries with their elections. We got 28 requests last year alone and at any given time are helping more than 50 countries with their elections. 

UN electoral assistance director Michèle Griffin: ‘At any given time [we] are helping more than 50 countries with their elections... It’s a very fulfilling and interesting job in spite of the many frustrations.' 
UN electoral assistance director Michèle Griffin: ‘At any given time [we] are helping more than 50 countries with their elections... It’s a very fulfilling and interesting job in spite of the many frustrations.' 

Usually it means that we help build up the capacity of a country’s elections commission. Sometimes we help countries draft or reform their legislation around elections or political parties or campaign finance. And we make sure that it’s inclusive, that women get to vote. And there’s a lot of work these days on hate speech, misinformation, disinformation, and the information environment that countries ask us for help on.

In some cases, we’re trying to help them de-escalate tensions, to make sure that it’s a peaceful election. It’s a very fulfilling and interesting job in spite of the many frustrations. I feel lucky.

It’s nice to come from a country that you can be really proud of. And I’m just very proud to be Irish. We really punch above our weight here. It’s in all of our interests that people understand what is it that people do when they work for the UN. The UN is all of us right now — it’s not just a building in New York. 

It’s the idea of co-operating to solve shared problems. And that takes everyone. Co-operating is a necessity. It’s not a luxury. We have to co-operate on things like climate change. No country is going to solve that by itself. 

I believe so, so deeply in international co-operation. I just want my kids to live in a world where we are still working with each other, co-operating, and where people feel that sense of solidarity and empathy with each other.

Stephen Jackson, Dublin, UN resident co-ordinator, Nairobi, Kenya

I’m what’s called the UN resident co-ordinator, which essentially is the head of the UN in Kenya. I manage and co-ordinate the work and role of the 25 UN agencies, funds and programmes here, everything from the Food and Agriculture Organization all the way to the World Meteorological Organization, Unicef, and the WHO.

Stephen Jackson, UN resident co-ordinator in Kenya: ‘Being Irish really helps in Kenya — we both have experience of the same colonial power. It gives us a certain commonality.’
Stephen Jackson, UN resident co-ordinator in Kenya: ‘Being Irish really helps in Kenya — we both have experience of the same colonial power. It gives us a certain commonality.’

It has a large component of diplomacy as well, because you are representing the UN to the country and to the government concerned.

I’m based in Nairobi, one of four global headquarters of the UN and the only one in the Global South. It’s a five-year assignment, so I will be moving early next year to do the same job in Beijing.

Ireland continues to play an outsize role in the UN globally and I think it’s fair to say that being Irish really helps in Kenya — we both have experience of the same colonial power. It gives us a certain commonality. I’ve had very, very senior, Kenyan political leaders say to me, “I know you share our perspective,” or “you would only say that because you’re Irish. You get it,” which is a real asset.

There’s a very active discussion in New York, about the kinds of further reforms that the UN requires. I think we’ll see the first signals of that at the General Assembly in September.

Ireland is always very engaged in those discussions, and I’m sure will be this time again. Being a small neutral power, we understand the importance of the UN.

We’re in a very, very different moment today, 80 years on from the creation of the UN. What I hope is that we can find a better balance going forward in which multilateralism is not only about the will of national governments, but also takes into account the voices of global civil society, that engages with the private sector.

Who controls the strings on AI? It’s not governments, it’s the private sector. So, we need a UN that is adapted to that reality. And that’s what I hope for.

Superintendent Fionnuala Olohan, Unpol officer
and Ireland contingent commander, Athienou, Cyprus

I am part of the UN peace mission here and am a patrol officer. I have responsibility for security within a specific space. We’re in post-conflict here as UN peacekeepers since the ceasefire that came into effect in 1974. 

Garda Superintendent Fionnuala Olohan, the Ireland contingent commander with Unpol in Cyprus: ‘I’d recommend it to all Garda members and specifically to female members. Female peacekeepers are highly respected but particularly in the UN mission here.‘
Garda Superintendent Fionnuala Olohan, the Ireland contingent commander with Unpol in Cyprus: ‘I’d recommend it to all Garda members and specifically to female members. Female peacekeepers are highly respected but particularly in the UN mission here.‘

Our function is to engage with people to prevent unauthorised incursions into the buffer zone between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots.

Quite honestly, a lot of people who come to Cyprus on holidays have no idea that the UN are here and have no idea of the history of the island. Oftentimes, sightseers will drive into the buffer zone absolutely accidentally and innocently. But there’s also a certain amount of criminal activity happening in and around the buffer zone — there are allegations of smuggling and people-trafficking in and through the buffer zone. So, our role is to try and prevent and detect any such incidents.

We are a monitoring mission, so we observe, monitor, and report. I’ve assisted the local police with some smuggling investigations — alcohol, meat, and cigarettes generally.

There are two main challenges. The first one is solo patrolling: you can be patrolling for three, four, or five hours on your own and that can be in the evening time as well, after dark. There are certain health and safety risks involved in that, it’s the unknowns. There are other dangers in the buffer zone, like the wildlife — there are very dangerous snakes here — and areas very prone to fires. The current heatwave is the other big challenge here. We have had a constant 40-plus degrees here for the last six weeks, it has been relentless.

The Irish have an enormous reputation in the UN mission. We are the longest-serving police force here, over 22 years. The local communities have an enormous respect for the Irish. They say the Irish police officers have good communication skills, it comes naturally to us. And I think our Garda training has equipped us to deal with every type of scenario and every type of individual. 

Once people see the Irish flag on our uniforms, their attitudes can change completely, and they become more relaxed and more comfortable and are much more willing to engage with us than some other police forces who are possibly more military in their background than we are.

I’d recommend it to all Garda members and specifically to female members. Female peacekeepers are highly, highly respected in all human missions, but particularly in the UN mission here. A few of us have talked about [peacekeeping] in Ukraine and we’ve kind-of said we’d nearly not retire and try and get to Ukraine. That’d be an interesting one.

Captain Rachel Madden, from Clonakilty,
Unifil 126th Infantry Battalion, Camp Shamrock, Lebanon

I’m the engineer platoon commander and the specialist search and clearance officer here in Lebanon as well as being a member of the fire crew. It’s my first mission. I’ve been here since the start of May and I’m in charge of about 20 combat engineers and tradespeople.

Captain Rachel Madden is the engineer platoon commander and the specialist search and clearance officer at Unifil UNP 2-45 or ‘Camp Shamrock’ in Lebanon.
Captain Rachel Madden is the engineer platoon commander and the specialist search and clearance officer at Unifil UNP 2-45 or ‘Camp Shamrock’ in Lebanon.

My daily tasks would be a lot of procurement and doing up specifications and technical drawings for new buildings that we want to construct, and then purchasing new equipment and new materials to allow the lads in my platoon — the carpenters, plumbers, electricians — to do their trade properly. A lot of the time we do fire crew drills. Other days when I’m doing construction works outside the camp, it could be anything from minor repairs to force protection works to some of the outposts along the border. We’re responsible for two posts on the blue line. I like it, I’m enjoying it. Time is flying.

I always wanted to be involved with peacekeeping operations. I looked at what Ireland did overseas and I thought it was good work, especially with Unifil. We’ve helped so much with the local population. But I also think there’s a lot more that we can do in the future. The Lebanese locals seem to like the Irish a lot — they have a very good relationship with our sector. You could meet contractors and civilians who work in the camp, and they’re always just lovely to talk to. It means a lot to the locals, and to the Irish people. They have a good relationship with them built up over the years. You know, the bit of small talk and a bit of Irish charm never goes astray. I’m proud of all the work we’re doing.

Sergeant Ian Lordan from Togher in Cork,
Unifil 126th Infantry Battalion, Camp Shamrock, Lebanon

My current role would be the sergeant over the mortar troop involved in the artillery weapon aspect of what we have out here in the camp — the mortar guns. 

Sergeant Ian Lordan at Camp Shamrock, Lebanon: ‘It’s important that we’re still seen out here doing repairs and trying to... assist in any way, to monitor, assist, support, and protect the people of Lebanon.	Picture: Irish Defence Forces
Sergeant Ian Lordan at Camp Shamrock, Lebanon: ‘It’s important that we’re still seen out here doing repairs and trying to... assist in any way, to monitor, assist, support, and protect the people of Lebanon. Picture: Irish Defence Forces

This is my third mission in Lebanon. I was on the 117th and I was on 122nd and now obviously the 126th. I’m an artillery man at home in Cork and so when I do deploy to Lebanon, I always stick to what I know. I’m just in from a patrol and I’m going out again in a few minutes.

The troubles out here in Lebanon started on the 122nd when I was out here [in 2023] and it was frightening for us in the camp at the time, hearing the bangs from rounds coming in close enough. You could feel the ground shake. That was scary because you didn’t know where they were coming from at the time.

Luckily, we are trained so when that does happen we know exactly where to go and what to do. But you could only imagine what it was like for the people outside and who wouldn’t have had the means of protection that we have in the camp.

It’s important that we’re still seen out here doing
repairs and trying to assist in any way, to monitor, assist, support, and protect the people of Lebanon.

Every day is different. I’ve been all in from day one — it was always the kind of role that, when I did decide to try my hand at the Defence Forces, if overseas was on the cards, I was going to take it. That’s one of the main things, being able to say that you have represented your country and you’ve done it overseas and that you can fall in to that niche bracket of people who have done so.

The challenge is being away from home — my son is seven, I just missed his birthday in July and my fiancée is expecting twins. So being away from home is a bit tougher on this one.

All going well, I’ll finish the whole mission and get home in time for a nice, busy Christmas.

Garda Richard Casey, 55, from Midleton, stationed in Clonakilty, Unpol officer, Linou, Cyprus

I think I hold a national record for the number of applications for Cyprus — I was applying for 22 years. It was something I always wanted to do. Policing in a buffer zone is a completely different way of policing to what we do at home. I’m a patrol officer, patrolling the tracks [buffer zone] all day, every day.

Garda Richard Casey is serving with the UN Police in Cyprus: ‘They respond better to the Irish... As soon as they see the Irish flag in our uniform, they drop their guard to chat away.’
Garda Richard Casey is serving with the UN Police in Cyprus: ‘They respond better to the Irish... As soon as they see the Irish flag in our uniform, they drop their guard to chat away.’

Cyprus is kind-of used as the role model for the success of the UN. There’s been no major trouble there for the last 50 years.

On hunting patrols in the mountains, there were mornings last winter you could have two UN police officers, unarmed, walking over to speak to a group of maybe five hunters, all armed with shotguns and dogs. It has potential to be dangerous. 

Cork gardaí Richard Casey, Clonakilty; Alison O'Flynn, Mayfield; and JP Twomey, Glanmire, received Water Safety Ireland awards from then junior minister Anne Rabbitte and Superintendent Brian Halligan in 2024. On January 1 that year, the three gardaí intervened when alerted to a woman in distress in the River Lee and saved her from drowning. Picture: An Garda Síochána Cork
Cork gardaí Richard Casey, Clonakilty; Alison O'Flynn, Mayfield; and JP Twomey, Glanmire, received Water Safety Ireland awards from then junior minister Anne Rabbitte and Superintendent Brian Halligan in 2024. On January 1 that year, the three gardaí intervened when alerted to a woman in distress in the River Lee and saved her from drowning. Picture: An Garda Síochána Cork

But you’re going over to them with the community policing background, the first thing you’re doing is you’re smiling and having a laugh with them, asking them about their guns.

They respond better to the Irish because they all know our history as well. As soon as they see the Irish flag in our uniform, they drop their guard to chat away. As Irish, we know how to defuse the situation from the moment we get out of the car.

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