The Irish Defence Forces are currently recruiting 350 new personnel that will "fully represent” modern Ireland in terms of gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.
The new Army and Navy recruits will also bring the Defence Forces back to the minimum personnel level of 9,500 set out by the Government.
Commandant Jayne Lawlor, the Irish Defense Forces' Gender, Equality & Diversity Officer, told Sean Moncrieff that a career in the Irish Army offers "quite a diverse range of appointments," detailing her service in Kosovo, Liberia, Lebanon, and Afghanistan.
In Afghanistan, "there is a peacekeeping element" to the mission, where Irish soldiers "work with the Afghan police force and army, so that they can take over security throughout the country." While stationed in Kabul, "you literally do not go beyond the walls of the barracks unless on official business, and even then you are travelling in all your armoured gear, in armoured vehicles. It's very security conscious."
While missions can be tough, Jayne insists that "when you are training, it's all gearing up towards deployment overseas. It's like a doctor who might practice doing operations for years and never getting a chance to operate. We are the same as soldiers, we train and train and love to get the opportunity to use the skills."
Commandant Lawlor insists the "macho image" of an army force is not good for a peace keeping service and as a soldier you need to fit into the environment you are station in. "It's a lot more about winning over the community and connecting with them," as opposed to hand to hand combat.
On appealing for a more diverse force, Commandant Lawlor says that the Irish army never had a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy and that homosexuality "was never against regulations in the defence forces." In fact, a recently established LGBTA network in the force is offering additional support for those who require it.
The female representation in the defence forces has changed dramatically since the first female recruits in 1980, when women were essentially employed as "administrators in uniform." In that era women, "were sent on grooming courses that taught lessons on how to apply make-up and their uniforms properly. They were not given any gun training or basic soldiering skills."
These days however, women have full authority in the forces and are often required for crucial roles overseas; “Cultural norms and religious norms will often dictate that female civilians cannot interact with male soldiers and therefore it is imperative we have enough female boots on the ground.”
The ongoing recruitment process involves an online application, fitness test, psychometric testing, interview, and medical assessment. Applications also go through a Garda vetting process.
To be eligible individuals must be over the age of 18 and under the age of 25 on the closing date for receipt of applications, which is September 4th 2015.
For more information go to military.ie
Listen back Commandant Jayne Lawlor's full interview on Moncrieff here:
