Irish troops bound for Lebanon

AN Tánaiste and Minister for Defence, Mr Micheál Martin accompanied by the Chief of Staff of the Irish Defence Forces, Lieutenant General Seán Clancy, reviewed the 122nd Infantry Battalion, UNIFIL at Sarsfield Barracks, Limerick.

Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Cathal Keohane, the 122nd Infantry Battalion have been in training for the past two months and are scheduled to deploy to Lebanon later this month with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The UNIFIL mission continues to represent Ireland’s largest overseas deployment.

The 122nd Infantry Battalion will deploy to the UNIFIL area of operations with 347 personnel (9 Maltese and 338 Irish).

Drawn primarily from Sarsfield Barracks, Limerick, the 122nd Infantry Battalion will replace the 121th

Infantry Battalion from Galway who deployed to Lebanon last November.

There are 85 soldiers within the 122nd Infantry Battalion deploying on their first overseas peace-