THE United Nations has asked the government to send Irish troops to southern Sudan to monitor the fragile ceasefire in the war-torn country.

Lieutenant General James Shreenan, chief of staff of the Defence Forces, has asked for volunteers throughout the army and is likely to meet the number required even though 150 Irish officers are already serving overseas. The army is carrying out a risk assessment to categorise the level of threat posed by the peace monitoring mission before the government makes a final decision on whether to send Irish personnel.

Willie O’Dea, the defence minister, said the Sudanese assignment would be one of the more dangerous postings in the history of Irish peacekeeping overseas, but he said he would withhold judgment until the risk assessment report was complete and would bring a recommendation to cabinet where the final decision would be made.

The mission was requested by the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations to support the peace agreement for southern Sudan signed in January by the Sudanese government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement.

Ireland has seconded one army officer to the troubled region of Darfur in western Sudan, and has provided financial support for the African Union Mission in Sudan. The government has also pledged €15m for the recovery and reconstruction of Sudan from 2005 to 2007, as part of a €4.5 billion international aid package.

Two million people died in a bitter civil war in Sudan, and while peace talks continue between warring southern Sudanese factions in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, some observers are concerned that not all the influential militia leaders of the region are participating.

Irish troops are already serving overseas on eight UN missions — in Liberia, on the Ivory Coast, in Western Sahara, Congo, Cyprus, Lebanon and the Middle East, as well as in multi- national forces authorised by the UN security council.

O’Dea said that members of the Reserve Defence Forces (RDF) would soon be allowed to serve on overseas UN duty alongside regular troops. The RDF — known for decades as the FCA (Forsai Cosanta Aitiula or local defence forces) — is to be officially rebranded in the autumn, losing the old FCA tag and undergoing a radical overhaul of its training, equipment and structure.

The 12,500-strong RDF, including An Slua Muiri, the naval reserve, will be organised into three brigades, to mirror the structures of the Permanent Defence Forces.

A quarter of its members, 2,500 volunteer troops, will be trained to a standard to allow them serve alongside regular troops as a contingency force in times of need.

“They will guard military installations, serve overseas, even take part in cash escorts, if their numbers are needed,” said O’Dea.

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