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Tuesday June 14, 2011

Irish Involvement In The Afghanistan War Has Cost Three Million Euros

Minister for Justice and Defence Alan Shatter (Photocall)

Despite Ireland's neutral status, the country has spent more than three million euros deploying military personnel to the Nato-led war in Afghanistan.

The figure does not include the salaries of the 130 Defense Forces members who have served there - if they are included the total cost is closer to six billion euros.

Independent TD Richard Boyd-Barrett, who is a vocal anti-war protestor, raised the issue during a Dail debate with the Justice and Defence Minister Alan Shatter this week.

"That money is needed elsewhere," he said, "It should not be used to send Irish troops to support and participate in a futile and bloody colonial war. It sullies our proud tradition of neutrality."

There are currently seven Irish troops on a mission in Aghanistan.

Primarily they are involved in the training of Afghan security forces in dealing with improvised explosive devices.

The Irish army has considerable expertise in this area, having dealt with IRA car bombs for decades.

Minister Shatter is expected to bring a proposal to government shortly to extend the presence of Irish troops in Afghanistan for another 12 months after its current mandate expires next month.

Cables from the US embassy in Dublin, leaked by Wikileaks, show that the United States has put pressure on the Irish government to sanction a bigger role for Gardai and Irish troops in Afghanistan.

Ireland's neutral status was seen as making their training officers more palatable to local security forces.

The confidential cables, published by the Irish Independent, also reveal that the US government was campaigning for special status to be afforded to US military using Shannon for refueling on their way to the Middle East conflicts.

However, the Irish government argued that the current informal arrangements would work better, because any special status would spark a major public debate.

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