Irish troops return home from Lebanon

More than 200 Irish troops from the 124th Infantry Battalion returned to Ireland from Lebanon on Monday.

The United Nations Interim Force Lebanon (Unifil) returned to Dublin Airport following a six-month deployment to South Lebanon.

There were tears and cheers as the troop filtered into the arrivals hall with many excited children, parents and partners waving flags, balloons and posters.

The returning troops have operated in the IRISHPOLBATT Area of Operations (AO), since the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah began.

On multiple occasions Unifil, and specifically these Irish troops, were forced to take shelter in protected positions and bunkers as the area came under fire.

Last month a Unifil outpost on the Israel-Lebanon border was damaged during fighting between the two sides.

WiFi communication went down in the area months ago, meaning the Irish troops could not contact families like they normally would.

Waiting for her husband Sean Pol was Belfast woman Sarah McCabe and her daughter Saoirse.

Sarah is a cardio-physiologist in Belfast Children's Hospital and said family life is tough without her partner.

"It's very hard without him, for pick-ups and afterschool stuff. You're a single parent for six months," she said.

"This is like Christmas Eve all over again, just waiting to the big day.

"From the moment he left I've been counting down. So has the little one."

Sean Pol has been in the Irish Defence Forces for 18 years but the deteriorating situation in the Middle East has caused further worry for families.

"It's a very worrying time, but the lack of communication this time. Normally we'd hear from him everyday but it was a couple of days at least before we'd hear from him," she said.

"I was a bit obsessed with the news to be honest, I'm not normally, but I became obsessed.

"People in work kept bringing it up and I had to tell them to stop."

Sarah McGeeney, from Dundalk, said waiting for her brother Sean to come home had been a long time coming.

"This one was a lot tougher and the wait has been much anticipated, I'm delighted he's coming home," she said.

"This is his second time in Lebanon.

"I did a bit of both with the news, I was avoiding and then it became an obsession. We tried to keep in contact and keep calm as much as we could.

"Sean was in the bunker so there was a lot of cabin fever but he said the morale between the lads is good and they keep each other going."

Mary and John Fleming, from Galway, were joined by family and friends at the airport.

Their oldest and youngest sons, Darren and Evan Fleming, are both deployed in Lebanon.

"It's so overwhelming to see them come home, worrying if they were going to get out at all," said Mary. "We're just buzzing."

"I'm overwhelmed and excited and anxious," John added.

"I'm going to squeeze them to death, this one was extremely hard. Thank God they're home.

"Why can we not live in peace for the few years we're on this planet?"

One returning soldier Jamie Kilmurry held his daughter in his arms as he told the press it felt "unbelievable" to be home.

This is his second time in Lebanon and says the area has changed.

"I just want to relax after being away for six months," he said.

"We made do without the internet, we could ring home on landlines.

"Morale is good yeah, it's the joys of the job."

Ashling Keogh from Coolock is returning from her first tour of Lebanon and says she's "overwhelmed."

"I'm so excited to be home, it's been a long six months waiting for this moment.

"This was my first time overseas, it was challenging definitely but I enjoyed it.

"I'm going to go home and see my dog now."