THE MINISTER FOR Defence has accused Sinn Féin’s John Brady of casting a “slur” against Irish troops involved in an EU backed training mission in Mali.
The comments came after Brady questioned Simon Coveney during a tetchy exchange at the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence.
Irish troops are currently deployed on two missions in war torn Mali – one involves the Irish Army Ranger Wing (ARW) on a special forces UN operation and the other is conventional troops involved in training local Malian troops.
Brady raised questions about this mission, the European Union Training Mission in Mali (EUTM), which he said has been shrouded in some controversy recently around the training of Mali regime troops.
The Irish detachment on the EUTM mission has 20 Irish personnel involved in training local Malian troops, who then go on to fight in battles in the north of the country.
Mali, along with Burkina Faso and Niger in the Sahel Region of Africa, is scene to a major Islamic insurgency in recent years.
The French Government said they were pulling out of Mali due to concerns about the Malian Junta which came to power in a coup.
Brady said EU troops had trained Mali forces who were involved in that coup and also involved in atrocities with the Wagner Group, which is comprised of Russian mercenaries.
Brady asked: “Specifically then in relation to the EU training mission you would be acutely aware of the difficulties in Mali.
“The involvement of the Wagner, the Russian mercenaries there in Mali, and the fact that we were involved in training troops in Mali that it is widely reported were involved in, all sorts of horrendous crimes, murder, butchery, including members of the Wagner groups.
“The French have pulled out of that training mission – it certainly puts Irish troops in a difficult position there Minister.”
Coveney said that the Irish Government had informed the UN that Ireland would no longer be sending ARW operators to that mission from September on.
He said that his officials were monitoring the situation in Mali and that they were examining whether to continue with the EUTM mission also.
“And to be honest, we’re keeping our EU training mission under pretty close watch.
“Things are changing in Mali and not for the better. Our security assessment in Mali actually hasn’t changed the threat levels but I think we do need to be very aware of what has been happening politically in Mali which is moving in the wrong direction.
“We currently have a government that is there on the basis of a coup that followed another coup and does not have a democratic mandate. And hasn’t given the kind of timelines that we should be expected in terms of elections and so on,” he added.
Brady at this stage of the discussion interrupted Coveney and said that the Malian troops involved in the coup were trained by the EU mission.
Coveney responded: “Troops, deputy, will, as is always the case, in terms of the military will follow orders.
“Our job in Mali has been to train troops, predominantly to try to demine certain areas, to try and protect themselves and civilians, that they’re there to try to protect from some pretty unsavory forces across the Sahel and in Mali. That’s what they’ve been there for. And I would not like the kind of slur that you have just attributed to them,” he said.
At this stage the committee meeting descended into brief angry exchanges.
Brady defended his comment and said that the troops involved in the coup had been trained by the EU.
“That is a fact, that is not a slur on my behalf, I’m stating facts Minister,” Brady said.
After Fine Gael’s Charlie Flanagan, TD, the Chairman of the Committee calmed the exchanges, the Minister clarified.
“The point I’m making is that we have been training troops for all the right reasons, people who are responsible for the coup are at a different level entirely and you should not be making the connection between the two given the accusation that comes from that,” he added.
Coveney said that there would be more of a need for Ireland to participate in more complex peace enforcement missions in the future.
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