Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Okay. The process of investigating recommendations for the awarding, or declining of the award, of military medals falls exclusively within the statutory responsibility of the Defence Forces' leadership. It is notable that the independent review group was not mandated or formed within the remit of the said Defence Forces regulations on the award of military medals. It was a process that was ultimately brought about by the intervention of politicians. It is risible, then, to note that unworthy comment in the report on politicians who were, and are, rightfully vocal in honouring the heroes of Jadotville. On not engaging with the investigation group, no invitation was issued to me or to any Senator that I know of, to engage with the review group.

The recommendation of the posthumous award of distinguished service medal, DSM, to Commandant Pat Quinlan, this charismatic and brave commander of 'A' Company 35 Infantry Battalion in the Congo, is noteworthy. Incredibly, the group report does not agree with the award of medals recommended by Commandant Quinlan, for the other 33 members of 'A' Company for their valour and bravery in Jadotville. This is quite astonishing. The group sees fit to honour Commandant Quinlan, but somehow to dishonour him and his judgment when it comes to the field commander citing men for bravery. One must surely follow the other. It makes no sense, other than the unthinkable, that the group seeks to only applaud the Quinlan family, who have led the fight for proper honouring of these men and their families for decades. Pat Quinlan was a man of honour. He would be dismayed to be honoured to the detriment of his fellow soldiers.

I can tell the Minister that the Jadotville heroes that exist today, whether they are listed for medals or not, loved Pat Quinlan. I have never met anybody who served who did not love Pat Quinlan. The independent review group has veterans and members as advisers who are themselves veterans and members of three recognised Defence Force veterans' groups, the Association of Retired Commissioned Officers, ARCO; the Organisation of National Ex-Service Personnel, ONE; and, the Irish United Nations Veterans Association, IUNVA.

The negative and inevitably explosive consequence of this flawed report will cause upset and dissension within and between all three organisations. It will also, sadly, cause unnecessary rupture and discord between serving and retired commissioned officers, their non-commissioned officers, NCOs, and private soldiers. This is regrettable in the extreme, for those serving and retired. At a time of great and increasing difficulties for the Defence Forces, it could and should have been avoided. The award of a DSM, was at one time a badge of honour in the Defence Forces for those who carried out acts of individual or collective valour, bravery and decision-making of the highest order when faced with hostile actions; where there was imminent threat to life and limb; and on the saving of life on land, at sea, or in the air, at home or on overseas deployments. Sadly, the award of DSM medal has been itself dishonoured in recent times, for being continuously awarded to most senior officers of the Defence Forces on their retirement, merely for having occupied the highest rank of the Defence Forces and for little else of note.The citation attached to these recent DSM awards is a matter of public record and cringeworthy in the extreme. By comparison, these flawed citations make the brave men of Jadotville seem like superheroes, which they were. Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on 6 December 1941, before Japan's formal declaration of war on the USA, has been described in military history as a day of infamy. Today's publication of this report is Ireland's day of infamy. There is a proud military history to the siege of Jadotville. Those associated with the report will soon be forgotten and we will be left to remember the personnel's part in the siege. The heroes of Jadotville will live on in memory forever and rightly so.

Every time I go to Galway I meet Charlie Cooley. Charlie was nominated for a DSM, and every time I meet him he says to me, "Craughwell, where's my feckin' medal?" When I saw the report this morning, as one who served in that unit, I cried. I cannot believe the Minister opened the door to allow the Defence Forces to undo the greatest wrong in the history of this State and I admire him greatly for that. It took great courage. What did the Defence Forces do? They screwed it up and could not have done so worse if they had tried. They have set officers against men. A number of enlisted personnel and former enlisted personnel have contacted me today to say to me, "I always told you, Craughwell, it is only a feckin' officers' Army." What am I going to say to them? What can I say to them? I told them about the parade in September the Minister was organising. They said they wanted nothing to do with it. It is such a heartbreaking day for 33 families. Tell the Quinlans, whose brother killed himself, that he was not worth his DSM.

I do not know what to say. I admire the Minister for what he did. I am so desperately sorry because the allegations of conflict of interest on the board, which were there from the beginning, are coming at me left, right and centre: from Australia, Indonesia, America, England - you name it.