Thirty Cork soldiers among Irish troops in Lebanon this Christmas

The minute’s silence in Peacekeepers’ Square in Lebanon’s Camp Shamrock on Saturday afternoon seemed all the more profound for the accompanying low burble from the square’s fountain and for a distant hum that probably signified the presence of a snooping Israeli drone.

The Irish 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 70 years.

Mr Martin laid a wreath in the square as The Last Post bugle call was played, and 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 the attendees was 24-year-old Private Seán Rooney, who was killed three years ago this month when his convoy came under fire from Hezbollah militants on its way to Beirut.

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 Pte 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 serving in Camp Shamrock. Cpl Martin Tynan, 30, died on December 13, 1992, and his son, Martin, is also 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 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 in Camp Shamrock.

Officially designated UN base UNP 2-45, Camp Shamrock is 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 expected to withdraw fully from Lebanon by 2027.

These are worrying times in Lebanon, and locals fear that the withdrawal of international troops will remove the eyes and ears of the world from 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 with hundreds of portraits of so-called martyrs from the most recent war between Hezbollah and Israel, which began in 2023. It left almost 4,000 people dead in Lebanon and more than a million displaced by the time of the eventual November 2024 ceasefire.

The visiting reporters were brought by the Defence Forces on a bus from Beirut, along bumpy roads through the heavily populated hills of Galilee. The signs of destruction and reconstruction were everywhere.

At one point, we passed through Qana, one of four possible sites of the place where Jesus is said to have performed his first miracle, at the wedding feast of Cana.

During Mr Martin’s visit, he met with Lebanese prime minister Nawaf Salam and told him of the Irish Government’s “annoyance and anger” at Lebanon’s handling of the case of Pte Rooney. The two leaders also discussed the attack on December 4 against Irish peacekeepers, when troops came under fire from local militia members.

In the mess in Camp Shamrock, the Taoiseach spent more than an hour meeting the troops, chatting at length with — it seemed — everyone, betraying only the slightest bias toward those from his home county.

Thirty soldiers from Cork are serving in Camp Shamrock, and when asked whether they might talk to The Echo, one officer replied, in a slightly weary Dublin accent, that it might be more difficult to get them to stop talking.

Pte Adam Rooney, 21, from Carrigtwohill, a signalman on his first deployment, is 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, has been in the army for eight years, is 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 Camp Shamrock, the Taoiseach introduced The Echo to Gunner Mohammed Sammour, a 24-year-old from Bettystown in Co Meath.

Born in Syria, when Mohammed was very young his family moved to Lebanon, where they lived in camps, and in 2018 they came to Ireland as refugees.

In 2022, Mohammed 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.

“This is my first trip overseas. My first language is Arabic, so I’m handy to help the lads with translation.

“I’m so proud to be a member of the Defence Forces, because Ireland has been so good to me and my family.”

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 that is under almost constant threat, while helping a local population that is living with near-perpetual war.

In a telephone interview after he returned to Ireland, Mr Martin told The Echo that 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.”