More than 200 Irish troops serving in Lebanon returned to Ireland on Monday morning after a six-month peacekeeping deployment with the United Nations Interim Force Lebanon.
The soldiers were part of Unifil’s 124th Infantry Battalion in southern Lebanon.
For Sgt Seamus O’Donnacha, who was returning from his sixth deployment, said the situation was the worst he has “ever seen”.
“It’s been really, really tough. It’s hard watching it. This is my sixth deployment and by far the worst I have ever seen. It’s just great now to be home,” he said after arriving at Dublin Airport.
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The invasion of Lebanon made it one of the most dangerous and complex peacekeeping tours undertaken by an Irish unit in many years.
Last month, Israeli tanks used the perimeter of one Irish outpost as a firing position as it targeted militants from Hizbullah. On one occasion a rocket, fired by Hizbullah towards Israel, landed in Camp Shamrock. No one was injured.
Fierce fighting between the Israel Defense Forces and the Lebanese militants meant Irish troops in one outpost near the border with Israel were isolated for almost a month before being resupplied.
All leave was cancelled and families back in Ireland were unable to speak to their loved ones for long periods of time. The soldiers spent much of their time in bunkers.
Pte Ashling Keogh, from Coolock, Dublin, was “overwhelmed” returning from her first deployment.
“I’m so excited to be home, it’s been a long six months waiting for this moment. It was challenging, definitely, but I enjoyed it as well”.
Asked what she planned to do now that she was home, she said: “I’m going to go home and see my dog and get a Chinese.”
Her father, Michael, had been waiting on his daughter alongside a large group of her family and friends who wore custom T-shirts and held up a large banner welcoming her home.
Speaking to The Irish Times, he said “the powerlessness of it all” had been challenging.
“You’re checking the news and if you don’t hear from her you don’t know if something has happened. It’s been really hard. We’re a very close family and at times we didn’t even know what to say to each other,” he said. “Today is fantastic because it was a relief just once we knew she was in the air. To have her back on Irish soil is just fantastic. There’s a lot of people happy to see her today. The last couple of weeks we’ve been counting down by the hour really”.
Jamie Kilmurry said it was “unbelievable” to be home from his second stint in Lebanon.
“I’m delighted to be home,” the Co Westmeath soldier said. Morale had been good but the area had changed since he was first there, he added.
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