John McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Five days ago, the 59th anniversary of the Battle of Jadotville occurred. This topic has been raised consistently by Senator Craughwell whom I saw earlier in the Chamber, our former colleague, Gabrielle McFadden and at the monthly meeting of Kerry County Council by Councillor Jim Finucane. On 13 September 1961, A Company of the 35th Infantry Battalion found themselves under attack from the army of the Katangan government. It is a story that we all know extremely well. In essence, 3,500 enemy soldiers launched an offensive attack against 155 Irish troops. At the end of the battle, A Company suffered five wounded in comparison to 300 dead and 750 wounded of enemy forces. The fact that there was not one single Irish casualty is something else. The Jadotville action is one of the best defensive perimeter battles in the history of military action. It has been taught by the German army for the past 28 years and the Australian army for the last 15 years. It has been presented in presentations to armies of 25 countries worldwide.

In 2016, supported by the Minister, Deputy Coveney, a unit citation was awarded to A Company. This is the first and only time in the history of the Irish Army that a unit citation has been awarded. That was known as the Jadotville Medal. It is not to be confused with the medals for gallantry and the distinguished service medal that Commandant Pat Quinlan recommended to 31 of his men for bravery in action for the events of 13 September 1961. Currently, eight of these men are still alive and living in Ireland. On his last day in office, the former Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, met Commandant Leo Quinlan and stated that those 31 medals should be awarded as a matter of urgency. As we have passed the 59th anniversary and only eight of the 31 who were so recommended are still alive, I would greatly appreciate if this House could convey to the Minister for Defence and to the Taoiseach the urgency of having these medals awarded. I am sure we can all agree that 59 years for bravery in action is far too long a wait.