Troops in Chad will swap over to UN

IRISH troops in Chad will swap their EU hats for blue UN berets when the UN takes over from the EU’s peacekeeping mission there next March, Defence Minister Willie O’Dea has said.

The small team of Irish soldiers still in Bosnia however will be pulled out next June as the EU’s force there down sizes and hands over responsibility to local agencies.

The final decision on keeping close to 400 troops in Chad will depend on the UN giving a mandate for the new operation and the Dáil approving it.