The Irish Navy has revealed it rescued more than 8,500 people from the Mediterranean Sea this year.
Three Irish ships were sent to help rescue efforts in the region in 2015, with the last, the LÉ Samuel Beckett, arriving home just before Christmas.
As part of the PONTUS operation, and working with the Italian Marine Rescue Co-Ordination Centre, Irish vessels took aboard 8,631 people. 39 bodies were also recovered.
The Naval Service, on behalf of the Defence Forces, received the People of the Year Award for the mission in the Mediterranean in 2015.
In total, one million people have attempted to cross the Mediterranean into Europe in the last 12 months, many fleeing the continuing civil war in Syria, where UN peace talks will begin in Geneva next month.
But Karem Shaheen, the Middle East reporter for the Guardian newspaper, says it is an extremely complex conflict:
