Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

One of the most pleasant things I encountered when I was in the Minister of State's position was a visit I received one day from the US military attaché to Ireland. He came to see me to find out if he could recommend to his superiors in the United States that they send some key officers to Ireland's peacekeeping college. He said to me, "You know, Minister, we do not know anything about peacekeeping". He said, "We just train our soldiers on how to use the best equipment in the world and we send them out on peacekeeping missions". It brought home to me the difference between what we are about and what the big powers do. They use force and move in, but we occupy a special little niche. We are renowned throughout the world for our peacekeeping qualities. We do not go about armed to our tonsils with bombs, bullets and the like. We have methods of dealing with people. I recall visiting Lebanon. My wife was with me. One day while I was out visiting outposts she was taken away to visit the homes of various leading local mukhtars and so forth as part of the build-up of goodwill.

We are unique. I believe that is what is so special about our method of peacekeeping. We need not compete, and I am not saying we do or that the Minister of State is proposing it, with other big powers that are spending a great deal of money. It is innate in our people that we are very good at peacekeeping. Sitting down, having a cup of tea and a chat and getting information is every bit as important as having spies on the ground. It is unique. The peacekeeping college is something we should put up in lights. It exists, but very few people know about it. It uses the skills that we have developed over the years. Ordinary personnel spend some time in the peacekeeping college sharing their experiences with those who want to learn about our methods. It is interesting that we have this reputation.