Minister for Defence Simon Coveney said a statement expected from the United Nations should offer Ireland the necessary assurances to allow it continue with its peace keeping mission on the Golan Heights.
"The UN Security Council is working on a statement that we have asked for in terms of the restructuring of the UNDOF mission on the Golan Heights. We hope to get hat today - there's been some too-ing and fro-ing but we are happy with the general thrust of the statement."
Speaking in Mallow in Co Cork, Mr Coveney said he was hopeful Ireland would remain part of the UNDOF peacekeeping mission in the Golan Heights, with the aim to provide a secure peaceful area between Israel and Syria.
“I’m going to New York next Friday to speak at an international peace keeping summit linked to the UN but hopefully we will make a very clear decision there as to our commitment to UNDOF in the future,” he said.
“The rotation of troops that is planned is being delayed by two weeks because there is quite significant structural change to that mission and I think the troops that are on the ground at the moment are best placed to actually bed that structural change down.
“I would like to see that happen before we send new troops out to that environment and what it involves essentially is moving UN troops to a safer location where they can observe as peace keepers the UN mandate in the area.”
Mr Coveney said he was even more confident than he was a week ago that Ireland would secure the necessary assurances from the UN Security Council to allow it and other countries with UN troops in the area to continue with the UNDOF mission.
“This is a very mportant UN mission, this essentially keeping Syria and Israel apart - there’s a lot of importance attached to it within the UN and among stakeholders in the Middle East so Ireland wants to be committed to it,” he said.
“We believe it is a important mission - Ireland has been to the forefront of the mission over the years and we believe that effectively we are the backbone of that mission at the moment so we would like to stay but we do need get the reassurances that we have asked for.”
