Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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541. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence when men from A Company 35th Battalion (UN Service) of the Irish Army will be honoured and recognised for their bravery at the siege of Jadotville in September 1961; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33851/16]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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To mark the occasion of the 55^thanniversary of the Siege of Jadotville, I had my Department organise and host a ceremony in Custume Barracks, Athlone on Saturday 17 ^thSeptember 2016 to mark the collective actions of the men of “A” Company, 35 ^thInfantry battalion and its attachments. A Unit Citation was presented to the Company in recognition of their collective heroism and professional performance during the Siege of Jadotville whilst cut-off from support and reinforcements. During the ceremony a copy of the Citation was presented to each member of the Unit or next-of-kin in the case of deceased members. This was the first time a Unit Citation was awarded within the Defence Forces. In addition a specially commissioned insignia which is currently being procured will be provided to the members and the next of kin of deceased members of “A” company. These recent steps to honour and recognise the bravery of those who served with “A” Company, 35^thInfantry battalion build upon previous initiatives taken by former Minsters for Defence.

In 2005, the Deputy in his then capacity as Minister for Defence, approved the unveiling of a plaque situated in Athlone to commemorate the events at Jadotville and the very significant contribution of A Company and of the 35^thBattalion, as a whole, to the UN Peace Support Mission in the Congo, as an appropriate way to commemorate the events at Jadotville.

The commemorative stone to honour the actions of A Company of the 35^thInfantry Battalion at Jadotville in 1961 was unveiled in Custume Barracks, Athlone in November 2005 when the Deputy met members of the Company, their families and the families of the deceased members of the unit. Further recognition of their contribution over subsequent years was as follows:

A.There was a presentation of scrolls in 2006

B.The Deputy also directed that portraits of Lt Col McNamee (35^thBattalion Commander) and Comdt Quinlan (Company Commander “A” Company) be commissioned. On the 23^rdFebruary 2007 these portraits were unveiled at the Military College and now hang in the Congo Room in the United Nations Training School in the Curragh.

C.In July of 2010 the 50^thanniversary of the first deployment to the Congo was commemorated in a highly publicised and well attended event in Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel. A Congo photographic book was also produced for the occasion; a section of which was dedicated to the events at Jadotville in 1961.

D.A nominal roll of A Company, printed in copper, has been affixed to the monument in Costume Barracks and was unveiled as part of the 50^thAnniversary of the Jadotville affair in September 2011.