Coveney confirms more Irish troops to be sent to Golan Heights

Ireland's Defence Forces will continue to serve with the UN observation mission on the Golan Heights, Minister for Defence Simon Coveney has confirmed.

Mr Coveney said he was “satisfied that we can continue to contribute to the mission”.

He told the Dáil tonight that “if Ireland was to pull out it would have resulted in the mission having a very destabilised future which in turn, in my view, would have contributed in a negative way to instability in the region”.

A new deployment of 130 troops of the 46th Infantry Group will be sent to the Golan Heights as part of the UNDOF (UN Disengagement Observation Force) next month. The mission has been in place since 1974 to observe the “area of separation” 74km long, between Israel and Syria.

The troops will replace Defence Forces personnel whose six-month tour was extended while the mission was restructured to deal with the increased security risk in the area.

Mr Coveney said there had been a “fundamental realignment” of the mission, reflecting the deteriorating situation on the ground. “The Headquarters of UNDOF, including the Irish contingent, has now been relocated to Camp Ziouani, on the Israeli side of the area of separation.”

He said further restructuring was required and was in process but there had been a “strong and unconditional endorsement of the mission by the UN Security Council, including in relation to the capabilities provided by Ireland”.

Fianna Fáil defence spokesman Robert Troy asked if the Minister had demanded that additional UN helicopters be position close to the area of the separation to increase the lift and recovery capability of the UN force.

He asked for consideration to be given to strengthening the armed elements of other contingents in the region as the Irish contingent was giving security to the 1,200-strong mission.

Sinn Féin spokesman Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, who defended Sinn Féin’s vote against deployment, said almost all troops including Irish personnel, were now deployed in the Israeli-occupied area.

Mr Mac Lochlainn questioned the Minister’s decision to deploy the new rotation of troops before the publication of the report on the steps necessary for UNDOF to carry out its mission. He said the Government should have got more clarity on the situation.

He expressed concern about the US airstrikes against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria as did Independent TD Mick Wallace. The Wexford TD said he had serious reservations about sending Irish troops back to the region, even though he accepted they wanted to return there.

People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said “the most useful thing we could do” was to pull Irish troops out of the region and to challenge the “hypocrisy” and “double-dealing” of the big powers in the region.

Mr Coveney stressed however that it had been made “very clear to me that the rebel forces and militia in the Golan Heights are not Isil or Islamic State. They are what’s called the Al-Nusra Front, which is an off-shoot of al-Qaeda. They have very different objectives and we are unlikely to see any bombing happening in that place”.

He added: “We have seen a structural and dramatic change to the mission but this remains a peace observation mission and we will review the weaponry that is available to our troops and others working with us.