Our Defence Forces get no thanks for selfless heroism

Despite their strong international standing, it’s often a case of out of sight, out of mind when it comes to Irish attitudes towards our peacekeeping personnel

The Irish Defence Forces have always punched above their weight internationally, despite being taken advantage of by the government Pic: Defence Forces

Reputation is built over time. It consists of admiration based on past behaviour or character. The hard currency of reputation is influence and respectability, which must be earned and never bought. It is perhaps the only valuable commodity that can be given voluntarily.

The Irish Defence Forces have buckets of international reputation to spare because of our long and proud peacekeeping tradition. I witnessed this first-hand when working at the United Nations and ...