Sir, – Thank you for publicising the Army's recent firing of two anti-armour missiles in the Glen of Imaal costing €150,000 each (News, October 7th).
Peace-support operations take place in hostile environments, where a credible deterrent is needed to dissuade attacks on our own troops. Firepower demonstrations, such as the one last week, communicate to armed rivals that Irish politeness should never be mistaken for weakness.
While our armed forces will exercise restraint when appropriate, they will not hesitate to return fire should they, or the civilians they are mandated to protect, come under attack.
The robust Irish capability demonstrated last week will not have gone unnoticed in the Middle East. Better to fire two missiles in Wicklow by choice, than 22 missiles in Lebanon by necessity.
Good luck and safe journey to our troops. – Yours, etc,
CATHAL BERRY TD,
(Independent,
Kildare South),
Leinster House, Dublin 2.
Sir, – I wish to take issue with two letter writers (Letters, 9October 9th). Before Irish units serving in Lebanon were equipped with anti-tank missiles, they came under regular tank, artillery and mortar fire from the "de facto forces".
In one incident, in my company, a tank round destroyed a 10-man accommodation unit. By sheer luck, the troops were elsewhere at the time.
The Javelin, with a range of 2.5km, is an effective deterrent to tank fire and therefore an important asset in protecting the lives of our personnel.
The firing of live ammunition is the final phase of weapon training and is necessary for the trainee to have full confidence in the weapon system. Where the cost is prohibitive, a firing demonstration is the next best thing.
The shelf-life of the Javelin warhead is 10 years. For safety reasons, it is common practice in armies to use up warheads in training, just before they reach their shelf-life.
Like your average household washing machine, the residual value of the warhead, at this stage, is probably close to zero. – Yours, etc,
DORCHA LEE,
(Colonel, retired),
Navan,
Co Meath.