IRISH troops are being pulled out of a peacekeeping mission in Syria after 10 years of action because our Defence Forces no longer have enough soldiers to keep up with our overseas missions.
Tanaiste Micheal Martin today told the Cabinet that he has decided to end Ireland’s involvement in the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force in the Golan Heights next year.
Some 130 Irish soldiers are currently in Syria as part of the UNDOF mission and will remain in place until March or April next year.
Defence Minister Micheal Martin told the Cabinet that Ireland has signed up to take part in the EU Battlegroup mission next year and does not have enough soldiers to do both operations.
The EU Battlegroup will see 174 Irish soldiers take part in a mission that will also include troops from Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Netherlands and Sweden.
The Battlegroup is being led by Germany and will see Irish troops train together in Ireland but be placed on standby to respond to emergencies across 2024 and 2025.
Minister Martin said that the commitment to the EU Battlegroup required Ireland to cut back on other overseas missions such as Syria.
He said: “At the time the Government approved our participation in the EU Battlegroup 2024/2025, I indicated that this decision would require a reassessment of the Defence Forces’ current overseas commitments and the likely withdrawal of personnel and equipment from an existing overseas mission.
“That assessment has now been completed, and the military advice provided to me was that the Defence Forces’ should reduce our commitments with UNDOF in preparation for our participation in the EU Battlegroup.”
A statement from the Department of Defence said that the ending of Irish participation in the Syria mission will “relieve ongoing challenges in respect of filling of certain specialist roles in overseas deployment.”
A small number of Irish soldiers will remain in Syria as part UN staff at the headquarters of UNDOF. It is estimated that this could be as few as six members of the Defence Forces.
The Irish Defence Forces have been involved in the peacekeeping mission in Syria since 2013.
Irish troops currently make up the emergency rescue team in Syria and remain on standby 24/7 in order to be able to react within 15 minutes for extracting people from dangerous situations.
Our soldiers also carry out patrols in MOWAG armed vehicles to ensure that ceasefire arrangements are being complied with by both sides of the conflict.
The Defence Forces are battling a long running recruitment and retention crisis which has seen the strength of our army, navy and air corp drop below 8,000 – a full 1,500 below the full strength.