Defence Forces Review 2008

Ireland’s first engagement in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: An Assessment
commander Major General Odd Bull. Taking over the reins at UNOGIL headquarters was an
endorsement of McCarthy’s professional ability, diplomacy and impartiality. This was a real
coup for the Irish, coming as it did so early in the mission and especially given that Ireland
had no previous record in UN missions. It is contended here that this event is comparable to
Lieutenant General Sean McKeown’s achievement in the Congo a few years later. However,
despite all of this, it went unnoticed at home and inexplicably was not recognised as the
historic event that it was for the Irish state and the Defence Forces.
While it was operational as a mission, UNOGIL maintained a high-profile presence of
unarmed UN military observers called UNMOs in all parts of Lebanon. Across the mission
area, the Irish officers were deployed as UNMOs to UNOGIL’s five operational sectors
(Tripoli, Baalbek, Chtura, Marjayoun and Saida). Each sector had a headquarters controlling
the outposts dispersed across the respective sectors. A unique feature of this mission was that
it had an air operation element equipped with helicopters and light aircraft. These elements
reinforced the work of the ground observation posts, checkpoints and mobile patrols, the
combined effort of which contributed significantly to defusing and containing the explosive
potential that existed in the rural regions of the country, especially along its borders with
Israel and Syria. The Irish provided a number of qualified pilots who conducted the aerial
observation patrols and one of these, Commandant Desmond Johnston, also joined the task
force assigned to oversee the British withdrawal from Jordan. 15 All across the mission, both in
the sector and mission headquarters, Irish officers were invariably selected for, and assigned to,
key staff appointments. The Irish officers were selected for these coveted staff appointments
by their immediate operational superiors, which was an international endorsement of their
ability, training and professionalism.
However, in one area the Irish were poorly prepared for operations overseas: in uniform and
equipment. Ireland had equipped its Defence Forces to meet the very basic requirements for
operations within the state and any prospect of foreign deployment was never considered.
Consequently, the Defence Forces were ill-prepared to equip those departing on the UNOGIL
mission and an ad hoc approach prevailed. On this basis, the Naval Service provided duffle
coats, Millets of Capel Street, Dublin provided something resembling a lightweight uniform
and the Fórsa Cosanta Áitiuil provided a ‘combat blouse pattern’ bulls-wool uniform.
In reality, the UNOGIL mission was a proving ground and a steep learning curve for the
Irish state, its civil service and its Defence Forces. In New York, the staff at the Permanent
Mission, using the limited communication means of telegram, air mail, diplomatic courier
and the unreliable nature of the transatlantic telephone, maintained very effective lines of
communication with their headquarters in Iveagh House. The civil servants in the Departments
of External Affairs and of Defence adjusted very quickly to the necessity for rapid decision
making to meet deadlines imposed by the UN. For the Defence Forces, there was the necessity
to respond quickly to government decisions and provide suitable, trained personnel to meet
Ireland’s commitments.
For the individual officers selected for service in UNOGIL, the mission was an experience
beyond their wildest dreams given the normal service expectation of those who had joined the
Defence Forces in the 1940s and 1950s. The termination of the mission and their subsequent
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