This month, a memorial was unveiled in Athy to remember Private Declan Deere (21), Private Jonathan Murphy (21), Private Brendan Fitzpatrick (19) and Private Matthew John Lawlor (23) who tragically died in a road traffic accident in Lebanon, while serving as United Nations Peacekeepers on February 14th 2000. ...
I spoke in the Dail recently about the important role that Irish people are playing in the Middle East at the moment. I highlighted the Irish civilians working incredibly hard for peace, in UN agencies such as UNRA, and the 500 Irish troops who are out there stabilising the area, maintaining humanitarian access ...
Great to see the new Cadet School HQ in the Curragh nearly completed. A €4.3m refurbishment. Much more desperately needed. Hopefully, the instructor staff can soon move out of the shipping containers on the parade square & into this new facility. Well done to all involved.
A very disappointing budget day for the Defence Forces today. Despite all the warnings regarding defence, the government has failed to deliver. All we are asking the government to do is to implement their own reports. These reports have given Defence Force members nothing but heartache and false hope. It’s the ...
“It was a very successful operation, but this was probably due to the courage of the people involved rather than the resources …. and we were asking the individuals to take on additional unnecessary risk as a result of this.” Good to join Áine Lawlor on RTÉ’s The Week in Politics recently to discuss the drug ...
Great to see Irish defence capabilities enhanced with the first of two C295 Maritime Surveillance Aircraft (MSA) arriving at Irish Air Corps. The new aircraft are primarily equipped for maritime surveillance and will also provide the Air Corps with the capability to deliver a range of services, including: ...
Pte Billy Kedian was killed in action in South Lebanon 24 years ago while saving his platoon. How fitting it would be for his case to result in a complete overhaul of the way military decorations are awarded. Still watching out for his comrades- even after all these years… Click here to view Dr Cathal ...
Glad to stand with and support Retained Firefighters outside Leinster House. They are invaluable to our communities but are underpaid and overworked. Without their hard work and dedication to the Fire Service, there would be devastating impacts on the safety of local towns and villages. Our communities depend ...
One of the biggest issues from the Kabul operation two years ago was that Ireland did not have an independent airlift means to deploy its troops overseas, that issue still hasn’t been solved yet. Secondly, we learned that we need a lot more contingency planning to be done in advance of these very predictable ...
Good to speak to Shane Coleman on Newstalk this week about the Russian ships that were in Irish waters over the weekend. “Normal practice is if you have a sensitive convoy moving through your economic waters, you would put out at least one of your naval ships to shadow that convoy. Unfortunately, Ireland had no ...
Glad to contribute to the Dáil debate on the findings of the Independent Review Group’s report about conduct and misconduct in the Irish Defence Forces. It was also good to welcome the Women of Honour group and veterans from Kildare to hear the debate. I welcome the publication of this report and its ...
Good week for Óglaigh na hÉireann / Irish Defence Forces. Better healthcare for enlisted personnel. Renovation of homes in barracks for military families. 3rd Airbus C295 for airlift (first time in the history of the State) Proper order too. They have our front- we should have their back…
