Ireland: Families hail UN Lebanon deaths inquiry

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RELATIVES of three UN peacekeepers murdered in 1989 have hailed an independent inquiry into the incident as enough to expose a 22-year army cover-up.

They were speaking after Irish Defence Minister Alan Shatter and the Defence Forces Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Seán McCann, apologised on behalf of the state and the army for failing to properly protect the soldiers.

The admissions came on the strength of Frank Callanan SC’s independent report, which rejected the army’s long-held version of events.

Mr Callanan said proper procedures were not in place on the morning of March 21, 1989, when Corporal Fintan Heneghan, Private Mannix Armstrong and Private Tomás Walsh were killed by a land mine on a dirt track in south Lebanon.

He said the track where they were sent to collect rocks should have been swept for land mines.

Enda Heneghan, a spokesman for the families, said Mr Callanan found against the army in four out five issues examined. This comes after years in which military officials rejected negligence. “The findings in this report have done away with that cover-up,” he said.

Mr Callanan’s report found that procedures had been inappropriate; the threat had been improperly assessed; the land mine should and could have been found; and the soldiers did not have proper training.

Mr Shatter said there was no evidence that the army sought to hide what happened in the Lebanon.

“I don’t believe there was any cover-up,” he said.

Mr Shatter said “wrong judgments” had been made but these were not born out of maliciousness.

The report came on foot of fresh evidence from serving army Commandant Ray Lane, who had given unheeded warnings about the threat of land mines in the Irish area at the time.

But his recollections only came to light in April of this year as the state was preparing to defend a compensation claim by Pte Armstrong’s widow, Gráinne.

According to the army, Cmdt Lane was not approached to give evidence in an inquiry in 2003.

Lt Gen McCann said the army made the department aware of the significance of Cmdt Lane’s evidence as soon as it became known.

The report documents military inquiries in the aftermath of the incident, and the departmental report, delivered in 2003, which said there had been no fault on behalf of the army.

Mr Heneghan said he believed the army had not been unable to bring Cmdt Lane’s evidence to light before April but had been unwilling to do so.

Irish Examiner

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6 responses to “Ireland: Families hail UN Lebanon deaths inquiry”

  1. 5thDrawer Avatar

    Not that any of that negates blame for the ones who plant mines.

    1. 5th how do you find all the time to comment on so many things on this site? You got a lot of time on your hands 😛 None the less your a very kind hearted man who never loses his temper, this i must credit you for, i guess we agree on most terms.

      1. 5thDrawer Avatar

        Well, thanks Beiruti … but I can see I’m not getting enough beach-time now if you think I live on here. 😉
        Actually, I tend to pop in and out … but this blog-site more than most others seemed to tweak my interest, and has some good-thinking people as well – even the ones that I may not agree with 🙂 – and you can take that in both directions … hahha. I cannot say I do not lose my temper … but it is only on occasion. Be cool. 🙂

  2.  Avatar

    Not that any of that negates blame for the ones who plant mines.

    1.  Avatar

      5th how do you find all the time to comment on so many things on this site? You got a lot of time on your hands 😛 None the less your a very kind hearted man who never loses his temper, this i must credit you for, i guess we agree on most terms.

      1.  Avatar

        Well, thanks Beiruti … but I can see I’m not getting enough beach-time now if you think I live on here. 😉
        Actually, I tend to pop in and out … but this blog-site more than most others seemed to tweak my interest, and has some good-thinking people as well – even the ones that I may not agree with 🙂 – and you can take that in both directions … hahha. I cannot say I do not lose my temper … but it is only on occasion. Be cool. 🙂

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