Meet the troops who are missing out on a family Christmas at home
Soldiers had ‘tough day’ away from loved ones
WHILE most of us spent Christmas Day at home surrounded by our loved ones, 479 members of the Irish Defence Forces on overseas missions made the sacrifice of spending the festive period thousands of miles away from their families.
There are currently 136 personnel serving with the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force in Golan Heights, while a further 343 personnel are serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
And for these troops, they will not be returning home to Ireland for Christmas.
Speaking last week, Sergeant John Murray, who is based in the Golan Heights camp, admitted that being away from loved ones would be the most difficult part of a ‘tough’ day.
He told the Irish Daily Mail: ‘Of course the biggest thing is missing the family, missing my fiancée – we’re due to get married next year – and obviously the kids.’
The father-of-two from Athlone has a three-year-old son, Ethan, as well as daughter Brooke, who is just a year old.
While Sgt Murray said his daughter was still too young to realise her father wouldn’t be around over Christmas, it is something his son was beginning to notice.
‘The young fella is starting to understand it. He’s at the age where he’s just starting to realise. It’s not easy for him.’
Sgt Murray was just one of many parents in the Irish Army who missed out on the chaotic excitement of Christmas morning. Trooper Thomas McHale, also based in Golan Heights, said that missing out on the festivities was difficult. ‘I’ve two little kids, so it’s going to be hard not being around, not waking up with them on Christmas Day,’ he said last week.
The 30-year-old, from Monasterevin, Co. Kildare, has served abroad on various official trips since joining the Defence Forces nine years ago, but this was his first Christmas spent on an overseas mission – and away from eight-year-old daughter Abbey and ten-month-old son Alex.
He said his absence at this time of year is difficult on his family, especially his eldest child.
‘You would notice it in her a lot, she’s a bit down.’
Lieutenant Paul O’Donoghue is not the only member of his family to have travelled abroad with the Defence Forces, so it’s not unusual for someone to be absent from the O’Donoghues’ Christmas dinner due to Army commitments.
‘My father was in the Army as well so my mother’s somewhat used to it,’ said the 28-year-old, who is currently in Lebanon.
Although the Blarney native has spent other Christmas Days away from his family due to work, on those occasions he was based in Ireland and so wasn’t absent for the entire festive period.
He remarked that being overseas was a greater challenge.
‘It’s not a complete shock to the system, but I can’t just hop
‘I’ve two little kids so it will be hard’
into the car the next day and go home,’ he said. Missing girlfriend Alwyn, he conceded that technology – and Skype in particular – has allowed the couple to maintain contact. He added that the quality of telecommunications at the camp had ‘surpassed his hopes’. However, it was many of the family rituals surrounding Christmas that Lieutenant O’Donoghue said he missed the most – ‘everyone usually comes to my house, and my mother makes the dinner,’ he said, adding that St Stephen’s Day would usually be spent watching football with his brothers.
It was Corporal Paul Murphy’s second Christmas away from his family in Danesfort, Co. Kilkenny. Speaking last week, he said he was ‘used to it now’, adding that everyone in the camp was supportive of one another.
He said: ‘You’re well prepared, everybody is in the same boat.’
Cpl Murphy said this festive season will be a ‘double-edged sword’ for his mother, as his sister will also be abroad in Sri Lanka.
It was business as usual for the troops yesterday. However, they did what they could to get into the festive spirit by enjoying a traditional Christmas dinner – even if it wasn’t quite the same as what they are used at home!