Óglaigh na hÉireann

The Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Rossa Mulcahy, recently accompanied the Minister for Defence, Ms Helen McEntee T.D. in a visit to UNIFIL and UNP 2-45.

During their visit, the Chief and Minister met with personnel of the 128th Infantry Battalion, partook in a ceremony remembering those who gave their lives in the service of peace and culminated in the medal ceremony.

The Chief and Minister expressed their sincere gratitude to the personnel of the 128th Infantry Battalion for their service on Peace Support Operations, continuing the long legacy of Peace Enforcement and Peace Keeping deployments for the Army and wider Óglaigh na hÉireann, as well as partaking in the penultimate deployment to UNIFIL.

#defendourstate #irishdefenceforces #oglaighnaheireann

Yesterday, Minister for Defence, Helen McEntee TD, accompanied by Irish Defence Forces Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Rossa Mulcahy, reviewed the 69th Infantry Group at Aiken Barracks, Dundalk.

The 69th Infantry Group, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Cormac Brady, will deploy to Lebanon later this month as the final Irish contingent to serve with UNIFIL.

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Last week, the Naval Service celebrated 80 years since its establishment, on the 1st of September 1946, with a special event in Haulbowline.

The occasion brought together serving personnel, veterans, families and friends to reflect on eight decades of dedication, commitment and service to the State.

From those who laid the foundations in 1946 to the generations who continue to serve today, this anniversary recognises the people behind the uniform and their contribution to protecting Ireland's maritime domain.

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Using the extensive experience the Army has gained from previous Peace Enforcement and Peace Keeping deployments, over the course of Óglaigh na hÉireann's history, Mission Readiness Exercises (MRE) are developed to ensure that Units preparing for overseas are exercised on the many eventualities that they may face in theatre. An MRE is conducted prior to any deployment on Peace Support Operations (PSO).

The lessons learnt from previous PSO deployments with the UN, NATO and the EU create the framework for the MREs for our Army personnel to be tested on. Previous Peace Enforcement missions such as EUFOR Chad/CAR, ISAF Afghanistan and MONUSCO (DRC) or Peace Keeping missions such as UNDOF (Syria) and the ongoing UNIFIL (Lebanon) form part of the basis of the MRE along with all other previous PSO deployments.

Last week, the 69th Infantry Group completed their Mission Readiness Exercise prior to their upcoming deployment to UNIFIL. 69th Inf Gp personnel were put through rigorous scenarios, live firing and drills culminating in a Final Training Exercise (FTX) to ensure they are prepared for the deployment ahead of them.

Peacekeeping is not a job for soldiers, but only soldiers can do it - Dag Hammarskjöld

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EUFOR BiH (Bosnia and Herzegovina) UPDATE: The Defence Forces can confirm that all Irish personnel serving in EUFOR BiH are well and accounted for.

Óglaigh na hÉireann wishes to extend it's sympathies to the families, friends and colleagues of those who lost their lives after a CH-47 Chinook crashed, today, during a routine training exercise. Our thoughts are with all those recovering from the incident.