[Article] PDF on Battlegroup standby in 2008

Vorsprung

Army to join its first EU battle group in 2008

Troops are playing a vital role in managing crises, army chief, Lieut Gen Jim Sreenan, tells Conor Lally.

The Defence Forces will become involved in its first EU battle group in January 2008.

Irish troops will begin working closely with their battle group partners in the next three months, with the first major international training exercise set to take place in September in Sweden.

The Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, Lieut Gen Jim Sreenan, has confirmed to The Irish Times that Irish soldiers will be deployed alongside soldiers from Sweden, Finland, Norway and Estonia. He said Ireland will make 80 troops available for the first six months of 2008.

These could be called upon at short notice to be deployed under UN sanction to any trouble spot around the world. If a deployment is not called up during Ireland's six-month period on the international roster, our troops will be stood down at the end of June 2008.

"Then it's probable that we wouldn't go on the roster again until about 2011 at the earliest," Gen Sreenan said.

Asked if Irish troops could soon be involved in such a mission in Darfur he said: "From a military point of view I wouldn't have a problem with that."

However, any involvement in Darfur is not possible now given our overseas commitments, particularly in Liberia, Lebanon and Kosovo. There are 330 troops in Liberia, 200 in Kosovo and 160 in Lebanon.

Gen Sreenan said he saw no reason why Ireland's involvement in Liberia would not come to an end in the summer as planned.

Most of the equipment and vehicles currently in the country would need deep maintenance when the mission was over. This would take two to three months, during which time the Defence Forces could not commit to any further international missions.

The deployment in Kosovo is to be augmented by 70 troops before the Irish contingent assumes the lead role, or framework nation, for one of the four regions in that country on August 1st.

Some 2,000 troops, including Finns, Czechs and Latvians, will be under Irish command in the KFOR mission. The area the Irish will be responsible for is the multinational taskforce centre, a region that includes the city of Pristina and a number of extremely volatile Serb enclaves.

"After the UN gives their judgment early in the new year with regards to the final status of Kosovo . . . there's going to be certain tensions - it probably wont please everybody. There will be uncertainty and that's something we will have to manage."

Gen Sreenan said the nature of all overseas missions in which Irish troops would be involved in the future was becoming more difficult.

In Liberia the sight of professional Irish troops and soldiers from other countries was enough to face down factions that had carved out empires through civil war and the use of drug-addicted boy soldiers who were forced into battle.

However, there were some "skirmishes" early in the mission and it would be wrong to believe there were not further dangers ahead.

Gen Sreenan described as "misleading" the use of the terms "peace keeping" or "peace enforcement" to describe the nature of the Defence Forces' work overseas. Irish troops were now playing a vital "crisis management" role. They were helping to bring security in the developing world. In doing so they were paving the way for NGOs, security sector reform and other development work.

All soldiers were trained and tested rigorously before deployment.

"If [ a soldier] is encircled and ambushed there's no point in him holding up a placard saying 'we're peacekeepers'. He's got to be able to handle himself, to protect himself and to fight his way out of the situation."

He believes the Irish troops currently in Lebanon are doing "invaluable" work in providing protection to Finnish soldiers engaged in reconstruction there. Irish involvement will be reviewed after one year.

Gen Sreenan rejected suggestions that the triple-lock mechanism - under which a deployment can only take place following UN, Dáil and Government approval - slowed down the deployment of troops when they were urgently needed.

The mechanism had never forced Irish soldiers to delay a planned departure on any mission. While involvement in Darfur was a possibility, the prospect of Irish troops being involved in any UN mission in Iraq after a British and US withdrawal did not arise at this time, he said.

PLAIN SPEAKING: Lieut Gen Jim Sreenan's views on ....

Complaints by the Naval Service they are spending too much time at sea:

"When you join the navy you must expect to find yourself at sea."

Deafness claims:

"The overall damage was very high but I think we've climbed out of that. A huge amount of money went on legal fees. It probably got a bit out of hand."

Overseas missions:

"The very nature of a quick reaction force means that whatever incidents arise, difficult incidents that other people can't handle, you are called in."

Possibly going to Darfur:

"From a military operational point of view I don't have a difficulty with that."

Our deployment to Lebanon:

"Who can predict the Middle East? We're there for one year to be reviewed."

Irish citizens being taken hostage abroad:

"I've no doubt that the Army Ranger wing has the capability to deal with hostage situations."

The threat from Islamic extremists:

"There's a threat on our back door, in the UK. And there's always a danger that people would use Ireland as a back door to the UK."

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