Irish troops abroad this Christmas

There are currently 416 Irish military personnel serving in fourteen different countries across the globe.

The biggest troop missions are the 210 personnel serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the 119 personnel with the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force on the Golan Heights in Syria.

Both these missions have been hit with heavy snowfall recently which has raised the Christmas spirit however both areas remain particularly tense

Irish troops also sat down to Christmas Dinner in countries as far flung as Mali, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Ivory Coast and South Sudan amongst others.