Ireland’s UN missions: Blessed are the peacemakers

We can all be proud of this small country’s contribution to international peacekeeping, under the umbrella of the United Nations.

That achievement was celebrated yesterday, when a ceremony was held in Dublin Castle to remember Ireland’s first deployment, and many more subsequently, with the UN to Lebanon, in 1958, when Irish troops stood between the Maronite Christian government and Muslim rebels.

These missions involved 70,000 Irish people and have, over the last 60 years, built an unequalled record of continuity in the cause of international peacekeeping.

Irish peacekeepers — military and gardaí — served in Central and Eastern Europe, Central America, Africa, and Asia.

However, the record of Irish peacekeepers in Lebanon, the Golan Heights, Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait is without parallel and has come to characterise that contribution.

Irish personnel served with distinction in the Middle East, one of the most challenging theaters of operation for peacekeepers ever since the first 1958 mission; they were based along the Syrian border.

Though Irish defence forces are involved in a number of international missions today, the great majority of them — 440 — are in Lebanon, building on the tradition of service in that troubled region.

Over those six decades, 87 Irish soldiers have given their lives in a noble cause.

On this anniversary, we should honour their and their comrades’ contributions to making this a better world.