Irish troops return home from Lebanon

Waiting for her husband Sean Pol was Belfast woman Sarah McCabe and her daughter Saoirse.

Sarah is a cardio-physiologist in Belfast Children’s Hospital and said family life is tough without her partner.

“It’s very hard without him, for pick ups and afterschool stuff. You’re a single parent for six months.

“This is like Christmas Eve all over again, just waiting to the big day,” she said.

“From the moment he left I’ve been counting down. So has the little one.”

Sean Pol has been in the Irish Defence Forces for 18 years but the deteriorating situation in the middle east has caused further worry for families.

“It’s a very worrying time, but the lack of communication this time. Normally we’d hear from him everyday but it was a couple of days at least before we’d hear from him.

“I was a bit obsessed with the news to be honest, I’m not normally, but I became obsessed.

“People in work kept bringing it up and I had to tell them to stop.”