175 Irish troops join EU Battle Group

FINE GAEL, LABOUR, FIANNA FÁIL BACK IRISH PARTICIPATION IN AUSTRO-GERMAN BATTLE GROUP

 » BY MARK MOLONEY

FROM July until the end of 2012, members of the Irish Defence Forces will participate in an EU Battle Group.

The Government parties and Fianna Fáil voted in favour of Defence Forces personnel taking part in the Austro-German EU Battle Group following a debate on the issue in the Dáil in February. There are 175 Irish personnel to be placed on standby at Cathal Brugha barracks in Dublin at an estimated cost of €380,000 for that alone with a further €10.7million cost to the taxpayer if the personnel are actually deployed.

Sinn Féin Foreign Affairs spokesperson Pádraig Mac Lochlainn TD said:

“Sinn Féin considers Battle Groups to be more about military powers in Europe wishing to push Europe in a certain direction militarily than about any sense of responsibility to peace-keeping.”

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