President McAleese visit to Lebanon 1997

We look back in this short video to 1997 when within weeks of her inauguration President Mary McAleese became the first Irish president to visit Irish troops serving overseas. For Lebanon, it was a time of sustained tension in a region devastated by decades of war and occupation.
The video shows the 82nd Irish Battalion Commander, then Lt Col Colm Doyle (Retd) welcoming President McAleese to ‘Camp Shamrock’. During her time in camp she laid a wreath in memory of those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the cause of peace.
Forty-seven Irish peacekeepers have lost their lives in the cause of peace in Lebanon. We take this opportunity to recall the sacrifice of these brave Irish peacekeepers and the terrible loss to their loved ones.