Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06DUBLIN1416
2006-12-15 16:18:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Dublin
Cable title:  

IRELAND TO CONSIDER EXPANDED ISAF CONTRIBUTION

Tags:  MARR MOPS PREL NATO PINS AG EI 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO6519
RR RUEHAG RUEHROV
DE RUEHDL #1416 3491618
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 151618Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY DUBLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7793
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0024
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 0218
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
C O N F I D E N T I A L DUBLIN 001416 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/31/2015
TAGS: MARR MOPS PREL NATO PINS AG EI
SUBJECT: IRELAND TO CONSIDER EXPANDED ISAF CONTRIBUTION

REF: STATE 186256

Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Jonathan Benton; Reasons 1.4 (B)
and (D).

C O N F I D E N T I A L DUBLIN 001416

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/31/2015
TAGS: MARR MOPS PREL NATO PINS AG EI
SUBJECT: IRELAND TO CONSIDER EXPANDED ISAF CONTRIBUTION

REF: STATE 186256

Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Jonathan Benton; Reasons 1.4 (B)
and (D).


1. (C) Ireland, a NATO Partnership for Peace member, is
committed to maintaining its presence in ISAF (now four
officers and three non-commissioned officers in Kabul),but
would have to consider contributing additional personnel in
the context of constraints on Ireland's current and planned
peacekeeping activities, said Colm O Floinn, Deputy Political
Director and Security Affairs Chief at the Irish Department
of Foreign Affairs (DFA),to DCM and Pol/Econ Chief in a
December 13 follow-up discussion on reftel points. O Floinn
agreed with DCM's remarks and Riga Summit statements that the
stabilization and development of Afghanistan was an
international priority and a litmus test for NATO. O Floinn
observed that Ireland also had national interests at stake in
this endeavor, given knock-on effects of Afghanistan's
situation for Irish society, such as in terms of crime (a
likely reference to rising levels of local heroin use). He
cited positive feedback from ISAF partners regarding the
value of Ireland's ISAF contingent. O Floinn added that the
Irish Government had just renewed a 6-month commitment to
maintain its ISAF contingent in place and that DFA strongly
supported Ireland's continuing presence in Afghanistan.


2. (C) Responding to reftel's call for Irish additions to
ISAF, O Floinn said the Irish Government would have to
consider strains on Ireland's participation in other
peacekeeping operations. (Ireland caps the number of
soldiers that can participate in overseas missions at 850,
and, under the so-called "Triple Lock Mechanism," such
participation must have a UN mandate and Irish Government and
Parliamentary approval.) He noted that Ireland had recently
bolstered its UNIFIL force to 158 and would have roughly 300
troops in Kosovo with KFOR and 60 in Bosnia with EUFOR by
next summer. Moreover, the Irish Government Cabinet had
recently approved Ireland's participation in the Nordic EU
Battlegroup, with a likely contribution of 100 personnel in

2007. (This decision still requires parliamentary approval,
which is expected.) O Floinn noted that Ireland would pull
roughly 330 soldiers out of UNIMIL by next summer, but that
this force and related materiel would need rest and could be
called upon for other African missions in the future. O
Floinn commented that Irish active peacekeeping troops
represented not only a sizable proportion of Ireland's
Defense Forces, but also a significant component overall of
the international missions in which they took part. Ireland
was also considering joining EU civilian-side programs to
strengthen policing in the Balkans and Afghanistan.


3. (C) Without making any commitments on Irish ISAF numbers,
O Floinn offered his personal view that a modestly expanded
force in Afghanistan would offer advantages for Ireland. He
cautioned that the Irish Government would not likely consider
personnel assignments to eastern or southern regions of
Afghanistan, but he ventured that a few additions to the
Kabul contingent might be in line with the Irish Defense
Force's own program to develop personnel and operational
capabilities. O Floinn continued that a modest personnel
increase might also position Ireland's ISAF contingent to
access a larger share of the intelligence that is now shared
among U.S. forces and ISAF's largest NATO contributors. He
also believed that the Irish Defense Forces would presumably
have a stake in raising its public profile in Ireland with a
modest increase in Afghanistan, as Ireland's peacekeeping
activities were a source of national pride. O Floinn said
that he would forward reftel request to DFA's highest levels,
and, again speaking personally, he recommended that the
Embassy reach out to the Irish Department of Defense's
civilian leadership on additional ISAF contributions.
(Comment: Post has begun this outreach and is turning reftel
points into a formal letter to DFA and the Department of the
Prime Minister (Taoiseach) that will request additional Irish
personnel for ISAF.)
FOLEY