This article is from page 3 of the 2006-12-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
IRISH SOLDIERS putting their lives on the line to keep peace in Liberia won’t be getting any Christmas presents – because the army have no plan to fly even the smallest gifts in.
And the personnel from the Western Brigade – which includes Clare – have also had their rations cut in time for Christmas, courtesy of a new UN regulation.
A concerned father, whose soldier son is serving in-country, contacted The Clare People after learning that the presents which he and other family members sent on will gather dust in the army store until the tour of duty ends.
“At least last year we were able to send some small items in padded envelopes. This year we can’t even do that. The most we can send is a letter. That’s just miserable for people who are away from home.”
The dad – who asked not to be named to protect the soldier’s identity – said that he is “very disappointed. They are a long way from home, in a stressful situation and some small token for Christmas means a lot. As far as I can see, the army is on a money-saving exercise. Even if they only organised a onceoff delivery for Christmas and kept the no parcels or padded envelopes for the rest of the year, it would be something.”
In a seperate move, the UN has ordered that soldiers rations be cut back from 6,500 calories per day to 4,500 calories.
“I got an email from Liberia and they didn’t even have any butter for their toast. That’s pretty basic,” the army dad said.
An army spokesman said that the force do not deliver Christmas gifts, parcels or padded envelopes to troops in Liberia at any time of year “because there is no civilian postal system in Liberia. We employ a courier company to bring letters out but we do not deliver parcels”.
The spokesman added that parcels can be delivered to soldiers on duty in the Lebanon because there is a civilian system in place.
He added that the calorie-control cuts are coming directly from the UN but Irish army chiefs are satisfied that they are “more than sufficient” for the soldiers needs.
The spokesman said that he is in regular touch with the logistics officer, the officer in charge of importing all of the troops supplies in Liberia.
“The food isn’t like home, granted but he said there have been no complaints.”