THis is from the Irish Times today.
Meanwhile, five soldiers from the Irish Army are part of an EU force training 2,000 Somali government soldiers in Uganda, as part of an effort to strengthen the transitional federal government’s ability to fight Islamist insurgents. The recruits are being trained in Bihanga in the west of Uganda to become noncommissioned officers.
“It is very challenging but very rewarding work” said Comdt Ronan Corcoran, protocol officer at EU Training Mission Somalia. Giving orders in English, which then had to be translated by a Kenyan colleague into Somali Arabic, was one of the biggest difficulties faced by the training force, he said.
However, Irish soldiers had to jump over their own linguistic hurdles from time to time to get their own message across: “Of the five Irish guys, two of them are from Cork,” said the Kerryman.
“So their English isn’t up to scratch either.”
“It is very challenging but very rewarding work” said Comdt Ronan Corcoran, protocol officer at EU Training Mission Somalia. Giving orders in English, which then had to be translated by a Kenyan colleague into Somali Arabic, was one of the biggest difficulties faced by the training force, he said.
However, Irish soldiers had to jump over their own linguistic hurdles from time to time to get their own message across: “Of the five Irish guys, two of them are from Cork,” said the Kerryman.
“So their English isn’t up to scratch either.”
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