Ireland will decide by the end of the month on whether to pull its troops out of UN peacekeeping roles in Syria.

Defence Minister Simon Coveney says the UN will complete a review of the Golan Heights mission next week.

The current batch of Irish troops are due to return home at the end of the month with doubts over whether more troops will replace them.

Simon Coveney says he'd be happy to send more Irish peacekeepers if the UN changes their mission:

Today, Coveney welcomed the news of the safe release of the 45 Fijian United Nations peacekeepers, which were detained by the al-Qa’ida linked Nusra Front on 28 August last.

Speaking earlier, the Minster said “This is an important development in the context of the review by the UN of the UNDOF mission and in particular the question of Ireland’s continued participation with the mission”.