John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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120. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the plans in place to mark the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Jadotville. [47080/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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One of the recommendations contained in the report of the Independent Review Group on Jadotville which was published last July related to the 60th anniversary of the Battle at Jadotville, where the IRG recommended that the 60^thAnniversary be commemorated with a focus on veterans and veterans’ families, placing them at the centre of the ceremony, which should be an all inclusive military ceremony encompassing Jadotville, Elisabethville and Kamina.

I have accepted this recommendation made by the Independent Review Group and it is my intention to hold an appropriate commemorative event to mark this significant anniversary of the Battle at Jadotville.  While planning for such an event is underway, a date for this event has not yet been confirmed.  My officials and the Defence Forces are currently looking at options including an appropriate way to honour the support provided by families to veterans of Jadotville.

The Secretary General of the Department of Defence, Jacqui McCrum, and the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, Vice Admiral Mark Mellett, paid tribute to the extraordinary courage, skill, commitment and sacrifice of the men of ‘A’ Company, 35^thInfantry Battalion when attending the peacekeeping memorial event at UNHQ New York earlier this month. 

You may also wish to be aware that Military Archives has an online exhibition marking the 60^thAnniversary of the battle at Jadotville on its website, www.militaryarchives.ie.