ALL SET FOR ACTION

THIS senior Defence Forces officer is making final preparations to lead a dangerous peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon - but nobody knows how many soldiers will be on the plane with him.

- BY MICHAEL O'TOOLE Crime and Defence Editor At the Glen of Imaal

Lieutenant Colonel Mark Lennon is head of the Defence Forces’ 127th Infantry Battalion that is due to begin a six month United Nations mission to Lebanon in a matter next month — but planned cuts to the entire operation means he may have to leave some of his personnel behind in Ireland.

The battalion has more than 330 personnel trained and ready for their tour of duty - but he admitted to The Star yesterday that some may not be able to go because of the cuts to the UNIFIL mission that emerged last week.

EXERCISE

And he acknowledged that he may be forced to tell some of the soldiers - whom he said were ready for their mission - that they cannot take part.

“That is a potential,” Lt Col Lennon told The Star, after we were given access to a special mission readiness exercise for his battalion in the Defence Forces’ training ground at the Glen of Imaal in rural Co Wicklow yesterday.

Financial cuts to the entire UNIFIL mission - which is supposed to monitor a shaky peace between Lebanon and Israel and monitor the de facto frontier between the states - mean his battalion may have to cut around 15 per cent, or as many as 50 soldiers.