• Something interesting and indeed historic is happening in Croker today … today is the start of a major international conference where delegates from up to 100 countries will be attempting to agree on a treaty banning the production and use of cluster bombs.
Ireland is actually one of a small group of nations leading the campaign to ban the use of these weapons. Negotiations started about a year ago in Norway and should the treaty be agreed in the coming 12 days of discussions a formal signing ceremony will take place back in Norway in December.
The three (of around 34) main producers of these weapons; the US, China & Russia, are obviously against the ban and are not attending. Not that it matters as agreement on a treaty would put serious pressure on these nations who would more than likely adhere to the ban even if they don’t officially sign up for it.
Why the ban on cluster bombs you ask? Because cluster bombs blanket a battle field by scattering up to (depending on the bomb) 2000 bomblets across a kill zone. Many of these bomblets fail to detonate essentially acting like a landmine; exploding only when disturbed usually by civilians weeks, months or years later.
Interesting to see how it turns out…

The ship had been loading in Dublin Port since yesterday; it contains 16 Mowag APC’s plus an additional 60 or so support vehicles (bulldozers, ambulances etc) along with 3000 tonnes of equipment such as weapons & ammunition, beds, air conditioning, toilets, a doctor’s surgery, photocopiers, food and water etc.
Basically everything, bar fuel, the troops will need to live and operate for four months is being sent as part of the largest logistical move the Defence Forces has ever undertaken.

Next stop is the Netherlands where it will collect additional equipment for 60 Dutch Marines who will work along side our lads in Chad. The ship will then head for Cameroon where the equipment will be off loaded and begin an overland trip of approximately 2,500km to the battalion “village” at Goz Beida.

You can read more about the operations in Chad (EUFOR Chad/CAR) on the Defence Forces website.
Good to see the website getting a revamp; I always had problems with the previous site in Firefox.

In related news, this year marks the 50th anniversary of Defence Forces involvement with UN peace missions. Military enthusiasts mark the 26th June in your diary as there is a military parade planned for McKee Barracks in Dublin. Will update you further closer to the event.

A long time back, September 2006 actually, I expressed my delight at the news that Ireland was to head up the UN’s mission in Kosovo. Fantastic news, thought I, a great honour for a small nation such as ours and, wrote I, “a testament to the magnificent contribution our soldiers have made to peacekeeping operations since joining the United Nations in December 1955″.

Such an expression of support for our Defence Forces is apparently a “parody of jingoism” according to Mr.Quigley.
So, our soldiers putting their lives on the line keeping the peace in Kosovo, Chad or Liberia should not be supported as it would be jingoistic, is that the message? Well here’s one ‘jingoist’ who’ll happily support the peacekeeping efforts of our troops … and shame on you that don’t!

Of course his post wasn’t about my post; it was used as an example of us Irish being fond of ‘sticking our noses into the affairs of other countries’; Quigley’s summation of our work with the UN seemingly. Ireland’s support of Kosovan independence was the target of the post and how apparently we have ‘shamed ourselves’ by supporting Kosovo’s declaration.

It’s to be expected from a “rotten and venal … low rate capitalist state little better now than a colony of the US” according to one.

To be honest I’ll never understand these self-haters. If they dislike where they come from so much from why don’t they just turn in their passport and move to the greener pastures of the states guilty of war crimes and ongoing human rights abuses that they love so much?
Because they don’t have the balls is the short answer. Because at the end of the day they are all talk and nothing more. Sad really.

“The 158 strong contingent, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Billy Harrington, is drawn mainly from the 1st Southern Brigade, with the bulk of troops from the 4th Infantry Battalion (Collins Barracks, Cork), the 3rd Infantry Battalion (James Stephens Barracks, Kilkenny) and the 12th Infantry Battalion (Sarsfields Barracks, Limerick & Kickham Barracks, Clonmel).”

Best of luck lads, keep the heads down!

Excellent news for our Defence Forces and a testament to the magnificent contribution our soldiers have made to peacekeeping operations since joining the United Nations in December 1955.
Since 1958 our soldiers have had a continuous presence on peacekeeping missions either as observers or peacekeepers serving over 50,000 individual missions on UN operations in numerous hot spots throughout the globe.
Our first mission was to the Lebanon in 1958 as observers (UNOGIL) and since then our troops have served with distinction in the Lebanon with Unifil [a small group still serve there today], The Congo (ONUC), West New Guinea (UNTEA), Cyprus (UNFICYP), India-Pakistan (multiple missions), The Sinai (UNEF II), Afghanistan, the Iran/Iraq border (UNIIMOG), Namibia (UNTAG), El Salvador (ONUSAL), Angola, Cambodia, Yugoslavia, Somalia (UNOSOM II), Haiti (UNMIH), Macedonia (UNPREDEP), East Timor (UNAMET +), Kosovo (UNMIK +), Ethiopia & Eritrea (UNMEE), Liberia (UNMIL), Bosnia, Croatia, Albania, Russia, South Africa, Rwanda, Honduras and many other cases you never hear about including the Irish troops seconded to various NGOs for missions in Somalia, Angola, Rwanda and Zaire.
And if you have been watching the papers recently you’d know that Irish Troops are likely to be deployed once again to the Lebanon in partnership with the Finns on what could be a difficult peacekeeping operation. In 1998 Ireland underlined our committment to UN peacekeeping operations by committing 850 Defence Forces personnel to UN peacekeeping under the UN Standby Arrangements System so it’s great to see Ireland not shying away from sending her troops into difficult situations such as exists in Lebanon today.

Ireland has a strong tradition with the United Nations, we are respected throughout the world for the work our troops have done on UN missions and it’s a fantastic honour for us to be given the responsibility for operations in Kosovo. It’s something we should all be proud of.

Some light reading: The United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).

p.s. It’s worthwhile remembering also the contribution of An Garda Síochána to peacekeeping operations, they have been serving with the UN since 1989.

Finland
The submarine Vesikko parked beside the wee island of Suomenlinna in Helsinki harbour. Built in 1933, used in World War II against the Russians. It was only Finnish submarine that wasn’t scrapped after the war.

Germany
U-995 – Type VIIC/41 Attack Boat, on display at the Navy Memorial in Laboe, near Kiel in northern Germany.
Commissioned on 16th September 1943, the U-995 is a Type VIIC U-boat, which once formed the workhorse of the U-boat fleet. The U-995 is the last surviving Type VII U-boat in the world.

Estonia
The submarine “Lembit”, built in Barrow-in-Furness in 1936, now sitting in the Pirita port outside Tallinn.

Russia
The infamous port of Murmansk, the home port of the Russian nuclear submarine fleet. There’s a number of various subs sitting in the port, probably rusting, such a shame. It’s one place i’d love to visit. Not sure what the big subs are, Typhoon Class perhaps??

Here’s a better screenshot of the port.

USA
Have a look at these lovely ladies sitting in the Naval base in Bangor, WA. Have a scan around the area, there are a number of docks for subs and also a shit load of what look like missile silos!!

Also worth looking at is another Naval Base in King’s Bay, Georgia.

UK
A nice view of seven subs sitting in the harbour in Edinburgh.

I’m in a sub hunting mood today…

UPDATE:
Look what I just found, i’m pretty sure it’s the USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67).

The Siege
When Congo was granted independence in 1960, the province of Katanga attempted to secede by declaring their independence. The then fairly new UN decided to intervene and sent ‘peace keepers’ to the region to help bring stability.
The Irish State, still trying to find her feet on the international stage, decided to offer soldiers to show we were willing to play our part in global peace keeping. In hindsight these were two huge mistakes. The UN was clueless and didn’t know how to handle the situation and the Irish Army, who were simply pawns in a game of politics, were ill-prepared and equipped for any such operation, and many of them were raw teenagers who had barely fired a gun.

In September 1961, “A” Company, 35th Battalion was sent to the town of Jadotville. They were in the town to provide security for the Belgian settlers who felt under threat from the native Congolese. However it was the Belgian settlers along with Katangan mercenaries who turned on the Irish troops, attacking them while they were at morning mass. For 5 days the 150 soldiers of “A” Coy 35 Bn, armed with only small arms, held out against a force of over 4000 Belgian-led forces who bombarded the Irish troops from the land & air. The siege resulted in over 300 Katangans killed and many injured but no Irish fatalities (only 7 injured).
The Irish soldiers were cut off from other UN forces and a number of attempts were made to help them, including an attempt by Ghurkhas, which all failed. In the end the Irish soldiers had no food, no water and no ammunition and “A” Coy Commanding Officer Commandant Quinlan took the only option he could, to surrender to the Katangans forces and avoid further unnecessary loss of life. The Irish soldiers were then held hostage by the Katangan forces before being released one month later under the terms of a prisoner-exchange programme.

This was certainly one of the most dramatic events in our young Army’s history and it’s utterly shameful that it’s taken us this long to honour these soldiers, especially now that so many have already died.
When I joined the FCÁ as a wide eyed 17 year old a veteran Coy Sgt took me under his wing and looked after me. As a young soldier he had served in the Congo and he would often tell me stories of his time there and just how badly prepared they were for duty in the region. It’s shocking that we would put our troops through so much then turn our backs on them when what they deserved was our appreciation for a job well bloody done.

So here’s to the brave men of “A” Company 35th Battalion!

Personally I think this is fantastic news. I spent 10 great years in the 17th Inf Bn and loved every minute of it. Where else can you get paid to spend a week on a shooting range blasting off sub-machine guns or two weeks in scenic Wicklow learning to hit targets a few miles away with a mortar? There’s no other ‘hobby’ like it.
There were some faults though. When I joined we had just started using the venerable FN FAL, a decent weapon but we were still stuck with some older weapons such as the Gustaf SMG (good fun to shoot but a dangerous weapon) & the Bren (as old as the hills). Uniforms were poor, it was late 90′s before we got proper combats. The FCÁ was also an awful waste of money. Uniforms, pay, ammunition, transport, food etc etc all cost money and the most we ever did was guard duties. There’s no reason why we couldn’t have been doing cash or explosive escorts for example, or even border patrols. Most reservists with a few years under their belts would have been well capable for such tasks.

Some minor things have changed since I left, they are now using the Steyr AUG plus they finally have the same standard of uniforms as regulars. But as of today the force will see massive changes; in structure of the organisation, in training, in co-operation with regular units, in equipment and also in roles & responsibilities. Read more about the changes in the report released [.pdf - 17Mb].
It’s just a pity i’m too old to re-join the ranks [the RDF website puts the age limit at 35, which is higher than what my home unit told me, which means I still qualify!], and my old unit is no more, it’s going to be a Cavalry Squadron. Still, I think i’d look good in a Glengarry.