‘We’ve upped the ante of our training’ – Irish troops prepare for Lebanon duty

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA

A lieutenant colonel has said Irish soldiers have ramped up their training as they prepare to be deployed on a peacekeeping mission in Lebanon.

There are 381 Irish soldiers in the battalion heading off on a six-month mission as part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) in mid November.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin inspected the troops, the majority of whom are from Co Donegal, before they travel to Camp Shamrock in south Lebanon.

The posting was struck by a rocket on Wednesday, understood to be travelling north to south towards Israel, but Chief of Staff Sean Clancy said all troops were safe and well.

Despite the development, troops preparing for deployment said they were ready and well-trained for the mission.

Battalion Sergeant Major Patrick Enfield, who has been in the Defence Forces for 34 years, is travelling out with his son Private Adam Enfield, who is going on his first tour.

The Sergeant Major said it was a “great privilege” to be a part of the mission, and Private Enfield said he was looking forward to it, adding that it is “something different”.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge,” he said.

Officer Commanding 125th Inf Bn Lieutenant Colonel Shane Rockett, who is on his ninth deployment overseas and his fourth to Lebanon, said there was some anxiety and worry among the troops.

Asked about the rocket hitting Camp Shamrock, he said: “We’re prepared for all incidents like that.”

He added: “This isn’t our first rodeo, we’ve done this before, we’ve done this for a number of years in Lebanon and we’ve seen kinetic activity like this in the past. The Irish army is well prepared for that.

“We will look after each other.”

He said that his “paramount” concern is for his troops but added: “We have a job to do when we go over there.

“Our job is to monitor, support the local Lebanese forces and we’re going to do that.

“It’s nothing we haven’t done before, we train for this stuff on a regular basis in the Defence Forces, but we’ve upped the ante in relation to our training.”

Asked about what they would do on Christmas Day, he said that they plan to have as normal a festive celebration as possible during the peacekeeping mission.

“We try and have a normal Christmas Day, as much as we can normalise it, there’s care packages that are sent out from Ireland, our families actually prepare them and (they) are handed in tomorrow.

“Nobody knows what’s in these care packages, but they’ll be opened on Christmas Day and that will be a little gift for everyone in the battalion.

“We’ll have our Christmas dinner all going well and depending on the operational situation out there and we’ll have a mass on the day of it as well.”