A group of Irish soldiers have returned home from a six-month peacekeeping mission in Lebanon amid increasing tensions in the region.
On Friday, 170 Irish troops from the 125th Infantry Battalion with United Nations Interim Force Lebanon (Unifil) returned to Dublin Airport.
Commanding officer Lieut Col Shane Rockett said the tour was “probably the most kinetic tour of duty I’ve been on in my career, and I’ve had nine tours of duty to date”.
Lieut Col Rockett said one of his first tours was in 1996 during Operation Grapes of Wrath, a campaign by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) against Hizbullah. This period was “quite a bad situation”, but modern-day events are “10 times worse”, he said.
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Last week, Irish troops reported being observed in Lebanon amid “aggressive postures” by the Israeli army.
“It’s occurring daily out there,” Lieut Col Rockett said.
He said the IDF has accused Unifil troops of “protecting Hizbullah out there, which is not the case at all”. At the same time, Hizbullah has said of the Irish troops that they were ”spying on behalf of Israel”, and that’s also “not the case”.
“The UN and Unifil are neutral. The Irish Defence Forces are neutral out there, and we don’t take sides.”
Lieut Col Rockett said the ceasefire agreed by Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hizbullah last November is “fragile”, and the situation remains “intense and unpredictable”.
“My main priority as a commander is to make sure we get everyone back home safe and sound, and we’ve done that, so I’m very relieved in that regard.”
Company Sgt John Rooney, uncle of peacekeeper Seán Rooney (24), who was killed while serving with a Unifil mission in 2022, said he wanted to make his family proud while on this mission.
“Sean always looked up to me and I know he is looking down on me. I know he’s proud of me, and I’m proud of him,” he said.
Capt David Hobbs, returning from his first deployment overseas, was greeted by his fiancee, Capt Chloe McMahon, who previously served a tour of duty in Lebanon.
She said the fact she had done her tour first helped put her “at ease”.
“I knew exactly where he was going, I know what his role is over there.”
Capt Hobbs said the tour was “tough at the start” due to the “uncertainty” in the region, “but through the training and the procedures that we followed, we were able to stick to our mission”.
The couple got engaged when Capt Hobbs returned for a break in February.
“He left me at home to plan it all, very clever,” Capt McMahon joked.
Also waiting in terminal 1 were Orla Doran and her three-year-old daughter Ellie, from Co Wexford, there to welcome home Fergal Doran, Ms Doran’s husband and Ellie’s father.
Ms Doran said she was “so excited”, especially about Ellie’s reuniting with her father. The family does regular video calls, but Ellie kept asking where he was.
“She’d think he’s inside the phone. She kept asking me if he was at home – every day. Now we can finally say he is home.”
Mr Doran turned 36 on May 17th, while the couple’s first wedding anniversary was on May 4th, so there are big celebrations planned for this weekend.
Máirtín Heraty, the youngest member of the battalion, is from Killybegs in Co Donegal. The 19-year-old said the first two months in particular were “very stressful”.
“It was tough at the start, but we kind of got used to it. Then we got into a routine. We knew what we were at. It was just a matter of getting six months done.
He said he is “buzzing” to be home.
