Over 160 Irish peacekeepers were greeted by their families and friends at Dublin Airport, after returning from a six month deployment with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
The last members of this 127th Infantry Battalion returned home, with members of the 128th Infantry Battalion being deployed to Lebanon with UNIFIL in their place. Their operational mandate is to conclude on December 31. A phase of withdrawal is expected to take place in 2027.
This tour saw several operations were being conducted by the 127th Infantry Battalion, amid the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, including the medical evacuation of a wounded Ghanaian soldier, as well as resupplying other United Nations Posts during particularly hostile periods.
Understandably, Dublin Airport was filled with emotional scenes as troops were reunited with their loved ones.
Senior Petty Officer, Diarmuid O'Connor was reunited with his wife, Gillian, who has described going through the past 6 months as "nerve wracking", adding that she "tried not to watch the news".
Speaking about the mission, O'Connor said it was "a small bit difficult", but they were "all trained and prepared for the situations at hand" and they "just got on with it".
"You do what you need to do and that's that", he said.
Battalion Quartermaster Sergeant Paula Quinn was reunited with her family, and described this mission as a "long and hard trip at times", but added that she was there with a "great bunch of people".
Sergeant Quinn was reunited with her son, Jack, with his poster 'Welcome Home Mammy' in hand. She added that she was keen to have some "quality time" with her son now, and "maybe a trip to Smyths toy store for Lego".
Derek Forrester, a peacekeeper from Dundalk, Co Louth, was reunited with his wife Nicola, and sons Caolán and Cathal.
Describing this tour as "hectic", Mr Forrester said that it was "what we're trained to do, so we just got on with the job". He has now promised his youngest son that they would cut the grass tomorrow after his son said it is his favourite thing to do with his father.
The youngest serving member of the Battalion was 20 year old Private Kyle Hynes, who met his baby nephew, Teddy for the first time when he arrived at Terminal 2 of Dublin Airport.
She said: "We didn't tell the kids where he was, so they didn't see the full extent of it, but it was tough, it was nerve-wracking but talking to him every day made it so much better".
Elsewhere, Commanding Officer Lieutenant, Colonel Mark Lennon called the return "bittersweet".
Lt Col Lennon said that while they were "delighted to be back", it was still "poignant" and "quite sad" to leave the place, which has seen all 14 villages under operation had been damaged amid the recent conflict, and in the knowledge that the UN Peacekeeping mission is to come to an end, having started in 1978.
"It was really unreal to see the devastation in the villages," he said. "They all have some levels of battle damage, some more than others, and some of the ones closer to the Blue Line are completely damaged".
Lt Col Lennon went on to describe the environment there as "kinetic" with "air strikes... artillery strikes, drone activity and drone strikes from both sides" with some incidents "in the vicinity" of the camp, but he described the "force protection measures" as "second to none".
He added: "While that was a relatively serious incident at the time, there's a number of other incidents that also got our attention over the six months".
He also went on say that the small weapons fire incident in December was "atypical" and was still being investigated.
Releasing a statement, Minister for Defence, Helen McEntee said that "Ireland has made a significant and highly valued contribution to UNIFIL since 1978" and it will "continue to fulfil (its) commitments through the mission’s final operational phase, while also supporting a safe and orderly withdrawal of UN peacekeeping forces".
"The continued deployment of Defence Forces personnel with UNIFIL until 31 December 2026 and... a presence in theatre beyond this date in order to support the safe, orderly and coordinated withdrawal of personnel and equipment during 2027".
