IRISH AND OTHER nations’ peacekeepers have now become targets in war and a new approach is needed to protect them from attack, a senior UN diplomat has said.
Major General Michael Beary is a well-known former member of the Irish Defence Forces now working as a Head of Mission in a UN-backed initiative to bring peace to Yemen.
Beary is currently in the country working on the UN Mission to Support the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA). It is a dangerous task and Beary has been personally caught up in the violence in Yemen - surviving a bomb blast that struck his convoy last December.
He is known as a global leader in peacekeeping and peace building and since leaving the Irish military in 2018 at the rank of Major General has lectured at universities in Ireland and authored publications on international peacekeeping.
His military life started as an Infantry officer in 1975 and he served from 2016 to 2018 as Head of Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) having previously served there in 1982, 1989 and 1994-95.
Beary is best known for his overseas missions in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia and Uganda.
He has also commanded the European Union military training mission in Somalia, and in 2004 he was the Liaison Team Leader with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.
While he said he was unable to discuss his role in Yemen as he sat down to speak with The Journal at the recent Consultative Forum on International Security, Beary was keen to stress the reputation that Irish troops had build up among militaries overseas.
However he also warned that there is now a greater risk against peacekeepers – from Ireland and other nations – as the long time respect among warring factions towards the blue helmeted UN troops has now vanished in many areas.
“Of course, the environment has changed dramatically from the time when peacekeeping really meant impartiality,” Beary said.
“Now we have a situation where we have a lot of different types of missions and different types of behaviours in missions – with different interest groups who do not look upon UN blue helmets as being bonafide peacekeepers, but look at them more as targets.”
Beary believes that Ireland needs to be ready for that environment and culture change and needs to equip troops appropriately to deal with the risk.
“We all have seen the incredible losses of life with IEDs (improvised explosive devices), particularly in the African context, so we need to be able to operate in those environments but I think it is where we should be. We need to be involved.
“We need to be projecting our small country largely on the international scene in close association with the Department of Foreign Affairs and with Irish Aid all linked up together to make sure that we’re adding the most value.”
Beary believes that the key for Ireland is to look to the EU which is devising a variety of new approaches.
“As we advance now, there are many developments in the European Union, we cannot stand back from that, we have to make sure that we are in tune with the latest developments on the data front, or on the European Union front.
“And if we have that in place, that means that our troops can operate to the highest standards, completely connected, in tune with all of the latest technologies. And that’s where we need to go on peacekeeping at the moment,” he explained.
Beary said that Ireland’s long history with peacekeeping, dating back to 1958, is an important contribution, adding that there are currently 500 Irish troops involved in missions from Lebanon to Syria and the Balkans.
But he believes that it is important to recognise that the State – even though it’s the fourth largest provider of peacekeepers in Europe is not nearly as involved as other countries.
“But it’s still an important aspect, a very important aspect of our foreign policy and is definitely something that the population of Ireland want,” he added.
Beary believes that Ireland is likely to continue deploying troops for the foreseeable future to Lebanon as part of the UNIFIL mission there.
“Lebanon is there, and it probably will remain our main mission. We’re there since the mission was established back in 1978 – we have made a big contribution there.
“In my opinion, we have been very active in ensuring that the population of South Lebanon can enjoy a peaceful environment.
“We’re heading towards 20 years, where young adults in southern Lebanon have not experienced the kind of conflict that was there in 1980 to 1978 and on numerous occasions in between.
“So we’ve helped to deliver that, not just Ireland but with all the constituent countries involved with UNIFIL. But Ireland has always been making a very, very good contribution,” he explained.
While Lebanon keeps an Irish peacekeeping footprint in the Middle East Beary believes that focus will shift to other regions, particularly Africa.
Ireland has deployed conventional and special forces troops to African missions, such as in Mali, Somalia, Liberia, Chad and Democratic Republic of Congo as part of UN and EU peacekeeping and peace enforcement missions.
“I think Ireland’s foreign foreign policy and our peacekeeping is hugely respected around the world, even though we are a small player, we still can provide a lot of added value. And I think we have to proceed that way.
“But as to the question of where are we going in the future – it is very difficult to know, Africa is becoming very difficult for peacekeeping missions.
“We’re almost 10 years since the last peacekeeping mission was mounted and the ones that are there in Africa are experiencing very difficult circumstances.
“But Ireland needs to remain involved, but very much in line with what our European neighbors are doing and the standards that they are developing there’s no way this should be a departure from that,” he added.
Beary said that the loss of Private Seán Rooney in Lebanon earlier last year was felt across the globe and prompted the Lebanese government to reach out to him to explain their view on its cause.
“The loss of Sean Rooney was felt very, very strongly by everybody in the defence community and even the Lebanese Government, who made contact with me, were very apologetic and very saddened by what had happened.
Speaking generally about Ireland’s approach to peacekeeping he said: “We cannot ever spare the level of training we put into these missions, or whatever expense is required to provide the best force protection by way of armoured vehicles, by way of communications and leadership is so important.
“All of these aspects, we have to keep pushing ahead, keep getting to the highest standards. And that is the safest way for us to operate.”
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