130 MEMBERS OF the Defence Forces, who were due home today after serving in the Golan Heights, will now be back on Sunday.

Junior Defence Minister Paul Kehoe confirmed that the UN has chartered a plane for the men and women which will leave Lebanon on Sunday. 

The troops are part of the UNDOF mission in the Golan Heights and were scheduled to fly out of Beirut and land in Dublin Airport this morning.

They had finished a six-month tour of duty and the soldiers to replace them have already arrived.

Kehoe said his officials had been working with military and UN “round the clock to have this matter resolved”. He added that it will be” a relief for our troops and their families”.

This is the second time this has happened in the space of a year.

A spokesperson for the Department of Defence said yesterday said that the United Nations is responsible for organising the rotation flights to transport the current UNDOF contingent back to Ireland.

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