Military police have launched an investigation into the appearance of a video on the internet which appears to show members of the Defence Forces carrying rifles while dancing to a song.
Despite a note accompanying the video claiming that it was filmed on December 21st, investigators believe it was uploaded in recent days and is more likely to have been shot in Lebanon in early 2007.
This is because only a very small contingent of Irish troops were stationed there in December. By comparison, 160 soldiers were in Lebanon until November 1st, when their year-long mission ended.
The video, posted on the liveleak.com website, appears to show three soldiers with rifles dancing to the Bee Gees song Stayin' Aliveafter getting out of a personnel carrier. It also shows a group of individuals walking to background music, and scenes of men exercising in a gym and taking showers.
A spokesman for the Defence Forces, Cmdt Gavin Young, confirmed that the appearance of the video was the subject of a military police investigation.
The posting of the video follows a similar but unrelated incident which led three members of the Defence Forces to be convicted last September of conduct "to the prejudice of good order and discipline of the forces".
The footage on the internet showed two Irish soldiers "mock" aiming their weapons at a group of people in Liberia.