An Taoiseach, Mr Brian Cowen TD, and the Minister for Defence, Mr Tony Killeen TD, accompanied by the Defence Forces Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Sean McCann, today along with many veterans and their families attended Casement Aerodrome Baldonnel for the commemoration the 50th Anniversary of the Defence Forces deployment of troops to the Congo.
The Operation des Nations Unies au Congo (ONUC) from 1960 to 1964, was the first peacekeeping mission to which an armed contingent of the Defence Forces was committed.
Fifty years ago, the 32nd Infantry Battalion, consisting of 650 personnel of all Ranks, was the first Unit from the Irish Defence Forces to serve overseas. An Irish officer, Lt Gen McKeown, was Force Commander of ONUC from January 1961 to March 1962. Over 6,000 Irish personnel served on this mission with a loss of 26 lives. The mission to the Congo marked the beginning of over 50 years of unbroken service on UN missions for the Irish Defence Forces and laid the foundation for Ireland’s international reputation for professional and impartial peacekeeping.
Speaking at the commemoration the Taoiseach said “It was our involvement in the Congo that represented a new departure for the Defence Forces and Ireland, and from the beginning you set the standard. Poised as we are now, with over 50 years of Irish troop participation in Peacekeeping involvement around the world, I would like to salute you. Be in no doubt that you have left the State with a significant legacy. We are all hugely proud of you.”
The Minister for Defence, Mr Tony Killeen TD, said “The Taoiseach’s attendance at the ceremony is a fitting acknowledgement of the service overseas by Irish troops, starting with the historic Congo mission and continuing to the present day. I am confident that we will have troops deployed on a UN mission in the not too distant future.”
This international involvement was highly significant because it demonstrated that Ireland, though small and still a young state, was willing to play its part on the world stage.
Thus commenced a noble peacekeeping tradition, which has continued into the twenty-first century. This half century of troop participation in international peace support and peacekeeping operations in some of the most difficult conflicts around the world has brought pride, praise and prominence to the Defence Forces and Ireland. It is taken for granted today that Ireland’s Defence Forces would involve itself, as a matter of Irish Foreign Policy, in such challenging undertakings. Such operations present a consistent means of measuring and benchmarking the Defence Forces’ capabilities and standards against best international practice, exemplified most recently by its very successful two-year deployment in Chad.
Indeed, Ireland is regularly approached as a source of peacekeeping personnel and expertise. Relative to our size, available resources and capabilities, both financial and military, Ireland has been proportionately a very large peacekeeping contributor within the international community.
Over the last decade, the nature of peacekeeping operations has changed extensively. The twenty-first century, peace support and crisis management operations now incorporate conflict management, conflict resolution, capacity building and security sector reform. As part of Ireland’s foreign policy we will continue to support the European Union in responding to the challenges of an increasingly more globalised world and in supporting the United Nations. In this regard, Ireland continues to offer, through the UN Standby Arrangements System, to provide up to 850 military personnel for overseas service at any one time.
The Operation des Nations Unies au Congo (ONUC) from 1960 to 1964, was the first peacekeeping mission to which an armed contingent of the Defence Forces was committed.
Fifty years ago, the 32nd Infantry Battalion, consisting of 650 personnel of all Ranks, was the first Unit from the Irish Defence Forces to serve overseas. An Irish officer, Lt Gen McKeown, was Force Commander of ONUC from January 1961 to March 1962. Over 6,000 Irish personnel served on this mission with a loss of 26 lives. The mission to the Congo marked the beginning of over 50 years of unbroken service on UN missions for the Irish Defence Forces and laid the foundation for Ireland’s international reputation for professional and impartial peacekeeping.
Speaking at the commemoration the Taoiseach said “It was our involvement in the Congo that represented a new departure for the Defence Forces and Ireland, and from the beginning you set the standard. Poised as we are now, with over 50 years of Irish troop participation in Peacekeeping involvement around the world, I would like to salute you. Be in no doubt that you have left the State with a significant legacy. We are all hugely proud of you.”
The Minister for Defence, Mr Tony Killeen TD, said “The Taoiseach’s attendance at the ceremony is a fitting acknowledgement of the service overseas by Irish troops, starting with the historic Congo mission and continuing to the present day. I am confident that we will have troops deployed on a UN mission in the not too distant future.”
This international involvement was highly significant because it demonstrated that Ireland, though small and still a young state, was willing to play its part on the world stage.
Thus commenced a noble peacekeeping tradition, which has continued into the twenty-first century. This half century of troop participation in international peace support and peacekeeping operations in some of the most difficult conflicts around the world has brought pride, praise and prominence to the Defence Forces and Ireland. It is taken for granted today that Ireland’s Defence Forces would involve itself, as a matter of Irish Foreign Policy, in such challenging undertakings. Such operations present a consistent means of measuring and benchmarking the Defence Forces’ capabilities and standards against best international practice, exemplified most recently by its very successful two-year deployment in Chad.
Indeed, Ireland is regularly approached as a source of peacekeeping personnel and expertise. Relative to our size, available resources and capabilities, both financial and military, Ireland has been proportionately a very large peacekeeping contributor within the international community.
Over the last decade, the nature of peacekeeping operations has changed extensively. The twenty-first century, peace support and crisis management operations now incorporate conflict management, conflict resolution, capacity building and security sector reform. As part of Ireland’s foreign policy we will continue to support the European Union in responding to the challenges of an increasingly more globalised world and in supporting the United Nations. In this regard, Ireland continues to offer, through the UN Standby Arrangements System, to provide up to 850 military personnel for overseas service at any one time.
