Conference told Irish troops show signs of trauma

Irish troops involved in live fire incidents on United Nations (UN) duty in the Middle East have begun to exhibit symptoms of post-traumatic stress and urgently need psychological assistance, the association representing soldiers, seamen and airmen has said.

Pdforra believes the Defence Forces' Personnel Support Services should be placed on high alert and sent to the mission on the Golan Heights between Syria and Israel immediately the Irish troops are involved in live fire incidents.

The mission has proven one of the most volatile undertaken by Irish troops in the modern era. Irish personnel have been fired on repeatedly and targeted in roadside bomb attacks by anti-regime Syrian rebels.

Pdforra general secretary Gerry Rooney told the opening session of the association's annual conference in Sligo last night that more needed to be done to aid personnel who might be psychologically damaged by some of the robust encounters.

Support service

He said the support service had been established in the early 1990s and needed to be readied to dispatch to the mission whenever they encounter serious events on the ground.

“The unit numbers around 20 people with specific training to support personnel who have been through extreme stress,” he said.

He added a small number of those caught up in dangerous incidents late last year had begun to show symptoms of suffering from extreme stress.

Volatile

The Undof mission, which includes 130 Irish troops in the multinational force observing the peace between Israel and Syria since a war dating back to the 1970s, was likely to remain volatile because of the worsening security situation in Syria and the region generally.

While the troops currently on the mission were due to travel home next Tuesday, they were being replaced by a fresh Irish deployment.

Mr Rooney said his association was also concerned at reports of personnel being forced to sleep in their cars near barracks where they were based in Ireland because they did not have the money to drive to their homes every evening and return the following morning.

The recent reorganisation of the structure of the Defence Forces and the closure of many barracks meant some personnel now found themselves based far from their homes.

Pdforra would be seeking transfers for those members sleeping in their cars to barracks closer to home.

Mr Rooney said his members had suffered a 20 per cent loss in earnings due to cuts in wages and higher taxes since 2008. About 20 per cent, or 1,500, of his members qualified for family income supplement from the social welfare authorities.