Irish soldiers who will spend Christmas in Lebanon have spoken about the heartache of missing their family at this special time of year.
Over 5,000 kilometres away from Ireland in Camp Shamrock, 360 Irish soldiers are deployed as part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
One of the soldiers is Dubliner Corporal Michael Mulhall, who is in command of the camp’s fire service.
Although it is his second tour of South Lebanon, it does not make it any easier to be apart from his five children - four girls and a boy - on Christmas Day.
“I would like to give a shout out to my five children and I wish them a Merry Christmas,” he told Tom Douglas for Newstalk Breakfast.
“Unfortunately, I won't be there but I'll make it up to them.”
Corporal Mulhall added that he continues to talk to his children as much as he can remotely from Lebanon.
“It's great to see them,” he said.
“I'll miss my son’s first Christmas, so it'll be tough.
“As I said, it'll be challenging, but I have a responsibility to serve, so I'm happy enough to be here and I can make more memories when I'm home.”
It is a privilege for me as Taoiseach to visit our troops to thank them for their service as part of the UNIFIL mission in Lebanon, and to wish them the best for the festive season when they will be away from their families and loved ones pic.twitter.com/Sn2rBBmlVp
— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) December 20, 2025
Another soldier spending Christmas in Lebanon is Sergeant Shane Gallagher, who works in the Civilian Engagement Unit.
It is his seventh time deploying to Lebanon.
“All my deployments, most of them have been winter trips, so I'm well used to [not having] Christmas at home,” he said.
“My family, I think, are used, well, they'll never get used to me not being there, but it's become a bit of a trend now.”
Usually, Sergeant Gallagher spends Christmas in Donegal by the sea - a far cry from Lebanon’s mild Middle Eastern temperatures.
“There's always a Bundoran swim I'd miss it, unfortunately, this year,” he said.
“But it's either on the main beach or the pier, so I would always be down there and then dinner at home with everybody, get all the family together.”
Irish troops in Lebanon. Picture by: Tom Douglas, Newstalk.Battalion Commander Mark Lennon admitted that while keeping morale up is a “challenging one” in the run up to Christmas, the soldiers can expect some fun and cheer on the day itself.
“For us, the good news is the morale is actually really, really high since we arrived here,” he said.
“We're turning into kind of our own little family here and we do a number of welfare activities; we have access to gymnasiums, we have really good Wi-Fi provided by the Defence Forces, so people will love it.
“Christmas Day will come, and we'll celebrate in a particular way, but people have ongoing welfare and support facilities here.
“We have thankfully got extra funding from the Defence Forces to allow us to buy more food and dressings for the Christmas dinner itself.”
On his visit to Camp Shamrock over the weekend, Taoiseach Micheál Martin expressed his “deep appreciation” for those serving in Lebanon over Christmas.
He also acknowledged the “dedication, professionalism and sacrifice” of those who have deployed as members of the Defence Forces.
Main image: Irish troops in Lebanon. Picture by: Tom Douglas, Newstalk.
