Defence Forces Review 2008

Punching Above Our Weight
It is therefore clear that on both political and military levels Ireland places the United Nations
at the centre of our core activities and will continue to do so in the future. In this context
the triple lock system - UN Mandate, Government decision and Dáil approval - is not an
impediment to any contribution the Defence Forces makes to international peace and security,
either now or in the future. In fact it is a distinct advantage to have such a system in place
because it anchors our activities within very clearly defined parameters and ensures that when
we deploy our soldiers in difficult and challenging peacekeeping operations we do so for the
best of reasons and give them the highest priorities.
Having chaired the Security Council on three occasions 29 , provided ten Force Commanders
and one Operational Commander 30 , served in 52 countries, and completed in excess of 65,000
individual tours of peacekeeping duty, Ireland’s contribution to United Nations Peacekeeping
has been immense given the size of the Defence Forces and the national population from which
it draws. In this context Col O’Sullivan is absolutely correct when he states Ireland punches
above it’s weight in international peacekeeping and he can rest assured that this practice will
continue well into the future. The men and women of today’s Defence Forces look forward
to the challenges ahead reaffirmed in their commitment to the very same values which are
enunciated in the UN Charter, and which were confirmed by the International Community all
those years ago in San Francisco - on 26 June 1945. The operational environment may have
changed but Ireland’s commitment to justice and humanity will assuredly remain the same as
international peacekeeping doctrine and policy evolve further in order to keep pace with 21st
century political and military demands.
Fo o t n o t e s
1
The League of Nations was an international organization founded as a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919–
1920.The diplomatic philosophy behind the League represented a fundamental shift in thought from the preceding
hundred years. However the League lacked its own armed force and so depended on the Great Powers to enforce
its resolutions and they were often reluctant to do so. The League did not, in the long term, succeed. The outbreak
of World War II was the immediate cause of the League’s demise, but there was also a variety of other, more
fundamental, flaws. Economic sanctions, which were the most severe measure the League could implement short of
military action, were difficult to enforce and had no great impact on the target country, because they could simply
trade with those outside the League. Ultimately, Britain and France both abandoned the concept of collective
security in favour of appeasement in the face of growing German militarism. The final meeting of the League of
Nations was held in Geneva on April 18, 1946. Delegates from 34 nations attended, and a motion was made to
close the session, with the resolution that “The League of Nations shall cease to exist except for the purpose of the
liquidation of its assets.” The vote was 33-0 in favor, with Egypt abstaining. At 5:43 pm Secretary Carl J. Hambro
of Norway stated, “I declare the twenty-first and last session of the General Assembly of the League of Nations
closed.”
2
Charter of The United Nations, Chapter 5, Articles 23-32
3
Charter of The United Nations, Chapter 6, Articles 33-38
4
Charter of The United Nations, Chapters 7 & 8, Articles 29-54
5
Trygve Halvdan Lie was born on 16 July 1896, in Oslo, Norway. On 1 February 1946, Mr. Lie was elected the first
Secretary-General of the United Nations. He was formally installed by the General Assembly at its 22nd meeting
on 2 February 1946. The General Assembly on 1 November 1950, continued Mr. Lie in office for a further three
years from 1 February 1951. He resigned as Secretary-General of the United Nations in November 1952.
6
Israel-Syria Armistice Agreement July 20, 1949: The 1949 Armistice Agreements are a set of agreements signed
during 1949 between Israel and its neighbors Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. The agreements ended the 1948
Arab-Israeli War, and established the armistice lines between Israel and the West Bank, also known as the Green
Line, until the 1967 Six-Day War.
7