Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the ambassador on behalf of the Independent non-aligned group and wish him a wonderful day. Greater love hath no one than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. On this day 23 years ago at 5.30 a.m., the 85th Infantry Battalion came under fire at post 642. Private Billy Kedian was awoken by the sound of mortars going off. In order that the people who were on duty could take care of the urgent work that needed to be done, Kedian ran from place to place waking colleagues to get them to go under cover to protect their lives. In the end, Billy Kedian was subjected to a mortar blast some 6 ft. away from him. As Billy lay dying, Lieutenant Morgan, Sergeant Spellman, Private Carr and Private Clarke went to his aid. Clarke himself was injured. Billy lost his life. The five names I have mentioned of Billy Kedian, Morgan, Spellman, Carr and Clarke have all been cited for military medals for gallantry and damn me to hell but we still have not got medals. We talk here about Jadotville. We talk about the saving of Sergeant Major John "Twenty" O'Connor. We talk about Billy Kedian. Not one bloody medal has been issued.

Every chance there is for a photo opportunity, our Minister and our Taoiseach head off and talk about the great service of our men in the Lebanon. This is not good enough. It goes back to the Congo, as the Cathaoirleach knows. Our men and women leave this country to keep people safe in peacekeeping. Many of them have lost their lives. Many UN peacekeepers indeed from the ambassador's country have lost their lives in an effort to bring peace to the world. A lot of people wonder what the hell a medal means and think it is just a bit of tin. It is the only bit of recognition we have for a brave soldier. We give every Chief of Staff a distinguished service medal for doing his job. Not one of the soldiers of Jadotville, 34 of them, received a medal. Not one of the guys who saved "Twenty" O'Connor, four of them, received a medal. Indeed one of them was a Swede who saved "Twenty" O'Connor. Not one of the five I mentioned today has received a medal.This is not a political matter; this is a matter for the Defence Forces. The Garda Commissioner has taken it upon himself to engage in a period of restorative justice to issue Scott medals for bravery going back decades. It is time that we stopped hiding behind regulations and charades. It is time to start to honour the men and women of our country who have given their lives and those who have risked their lives.

I am asking all Members to ask the Minister and to make contact with the Chief of Staff on this matter. It is a decision for the Chief of Staff, not for anybody else. We must ask him to take action.

There are rules and regulations in this House, so it is probably inappropriate to ask for a minute's silence at the end of the Order of Business, but Billy Kedian, a Mayo man, has been forgotten. If we can have a minute's silence for him, it would mean so much to my former colleagues in Galway. They have assembled for mass this morning. I have been contacted by many of them and I cannot begin to express how distressing I find this situation. I will leave it at that.