Mullingar troops to leave for Lebanon before month's end

The departure dates for a contingent of between 35 and 40 Mullingar-based soldiers bound for a UNIFIL peacekeeping mission in Lebanon have been confirmed, after an advance party of Irish troops left with equipment this week.Around one in every twelve of the 440 Irish soldiers heading for the Middle Eastern country will be a member of the 4 Field Artillery Regiment at Columb Barracks, Mullingar.Most of the Mullingar troops involved in the peacekeeping mission will leave town on June 22, and will depart for Lebanon from McKee Barracks, Dublin on the morning of Thursday, June 23.Some of the soldiers will leave on the following Sunday, June 26, completing the Irish contingent which will be barracked at Tibnin (Tebnine), a village in the south of Lebanon, not far from the border with Israel.The Irish Area of Operations will measure some 140 square kilometres, extending from Tibnin to the Blue Line which runs along the boundary with the Jewish state.Tibnin - the home of 'Camp Shamrock' - is well known to those familiar with past Irish expeditions under the banner of UNIFIL, the United Nations mission set up in 1978 to keep peace in Lebanon.Several homes in Tibnin were destroyed by Israeli bombardment during the July 2006 war.The Irish force will be tasked with securing two observation posts (OPs), which will be guarded for at least five months. They will carry out patrols, monitor the ongoing cessation of hostilities, and support the Lebanese armed forces and civilian population in any possible way.The situation on the Israeli-Lebanese border is relatively calm at the moment, although in the volatile Middle East, things can change in the blink of an eye.But RSM Noel O'Callaghan - who will be one of the Mullingar troops heading for Tibnin - says that the Irish contingent is "ready for every eventuality and every scenario", having trained specifically for the mission since March.To read more see this week's Westmeath Examiner