IRISH soldiers who fought at the Siege of Jadotville in Central Africa in 1961 will finally receive bravery medals from the Irish Government – almost 56 years on.
The decision was made at Enda Kenny’s final cabinet meeting before he was replaced as Taoiseach by Leo Varadkar.
In 1961, a contingent of 158 Irish peacekeeping troops were sent by the United Nations to intervene in the Katanga conflict in modern day Democratic Republic of Congo.
By the time the men were captured, they had killed at least 300 of the enemy. Not one Irishman died.
Their little-known battle was effectively swept under the carpet and medals were denied to them at the time.
Last year, a Hollywood film – The Siege of Jadotville – starring Irish actor Jamie Dornan was released by Netflix – finally bringing their story to international attention.
Enda Kenny said: “I am very pleased to announce this decision to award medals to the men of A Company.
Commandant Pat Quinlan in Jadotville shortly before the siege [Courtesy of Leo Quinlan]While the company's commandant Pat Quinlan was 42, most of the troops were just teenagers at the time.
Henry Hegarty was just 17 when he fought at Jadotville, he told The Irish Post that he was convinced he was going to die either by thirst, exhaustion or by being shot.
In the aftermath of the battle, pictures circulated of the men’s bedrolls which were mistaken for body bags.
Their families were convinced the men had perished.
When they eventually did return to Ireland, the story was a diplomatic controversy and was suppressed by the Government of the time.
The Department of Defence and the Military Authorities said they will work together to make the arrangements for the awarding of the men’s medals.
“Given the process required, this will take some time,” they said.
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