Peacekeeper families made sacrifices - army chaplain
Fr Declan Shannon said the families of the 1960s Congo peacekeeper families also made sacrifices for peace, and supported their loved ones overseas.
The army chaplain was speaking at a ceremony in Custume Barracks to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of Ireland's peacekeeping mission in Congo recently at which the local Irish United Nations Veterans Association (IUNVA – Post 9) organisation honoured their former surviving colleagues.
“Everyone made selfless contributions - the men and their families,” said Fr Declan. “They might have written letters which was received a week later and then it would take a long time for a replied letter to be received.”
The army chaplain said that he is only recently back from Syria and Lebanon and has seen the sacrifices made. “All of their personal lives don’t just stop when they go overseas,” he said. “Babies are born and 21st birthday parties happen. The sacrifices they all make are huge.”
At the ceremony, Fr. Declan said that “we are standing on the shoulders of giants". “It’s only right and fitting that we should take the time and make the effort to honour those brave Irish soldiers who put their shoulders to the wheel of peacekeeping,” said the local priest. “The passage of time has not weakened our respect for those brave Irish men. Let us not forget wives, parents, partners, siblings and children. They too paid a great price at a time when air travel was expensive and not as frequent, and telecommunications not at our fingertips. Today we stand on the shoulders of giants.”
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The full report on the ceremony in Custume Barracks