Two upcoming talks that may be of interest to military historians will deal with recent international military history experienced by Irish Military personal on international service under the UN.
The first talk will take place on Wednesday 20th February at 8pm in the Curragh titled ‘Peacekeeping, an Irish Perspective’ and the second talk takes place on Tuesday 26th February at 8pm in Naas titled ‘Investigating War Crimes’. More details below.
Peacekeeping – an Irish Perspective – Wednesday 20th February at 8pm
Newbridge Local History Group’s next talk will take place in the Curragh and will be given by Lt. Col. Tim O’Brien on Peacekeeping, an Irish perspective.
We are all well aware of the contribution Ireland has made to peace-keeping operations all over the world. From our own town many military personnel have gone to places like Egypt, Israel, the Congo, Western Sahara, Kashmir in India to name a few.
Lt. Col. Tim O’Brien, head of the UN Training School in the Curragh (UNTSI) will give our February talk which will highlight that contribution, putting it all in perspective.
Time and Location: The talk will take place in the UNTSI HQ in the Curragh Camp on Wednesday 20th February 2019 at 8pm.
Investigating War Crimes – Tuesday 26th February at 8pm
At this talk Col. (Retired) Desmond Travers will speak about aspects of the investigations of crimes of war instancing events he has investigated in Palestine, the Yugoslav civil war, the Sri Lankan Tamil war and other conflicts.
Desmond Travers is a former soldier and is currently Vice-President of the Institute for International Criminal Investigations (www.iici.global). Based in The Hague, the Institute is the sole means available to teach and advise into the investigation of crimes of war and genocide.
His military expertise is sought and he has been military adviser and analyst into such conflicts as: the Sri Lanka – Tamil war (2009), events during the Bolivian Presidency of 2002 and the Israel – Hisbollah conflict in S. Lebanon (2006). Additionally his services have been sought relating to events in Syria, Libya, the West Bank, Sudan and on the high seas (MV Marmara incident 2012). In 2010 he was appointed to the UN Fact-finding Mission into the Israeli forces attacks in Gaza in 2009.
Time and Location: The talk will take place in Naas Town Hall on Tuesday 26th February 2019 at 8pm.