Private Seán Rooney, the Irish peacekeeper who died in Lebanon last December, has been honoured at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
At a ceremony in the UN General Assembly Hall, Irish Ambassador to the United Nations Fergal Mythen accepted the Dag Hammarskjöld medal on behalf of the family of Private Rooney.
The medal ceremony formed part of a series of events held to mark the 75th anniversary of United Nations peacekeeping.
Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres laid a wreath at the Peacekeepers' Memorial in the grounds of the UN compound to commemorate the 4,200 peacekeepers, including 91 Irish personnel, who have died.
"We mourn their loss and share our deepest sympathies with their families, friends and colleagues. We will never forget their contributions," Mr Guterres said in his opening remarks at the medal ceremony.
Peacekeepers represent the "beating heart of the United Nations' commitment to peace," he said.
"Today, for civilians caught in the hell of conflict, our Blue Helmets are a beacon of hope and protection," he added.
Ireland has contributed peacekeepers to UN missions on a continuous basis since 1958. Today, there are nearly 500 Irish police and military personnel serving under the UN flag.
Investigations after Irish peacekeeper killed in Lebanon
"We remember the peacekeepers themselves but at this time we remember the families who deal with their tragic loss on a daily basis," said Major General Maureen O'Brien, who is seconded from the Irish Defence Forces to the United Nations, as Deputy Military Advisor to the UN Secretary-General on peacekeeping.
"We use their work and their loss tragic loss as an inspiration for us going forward and to remember the work that we're doing although it can sometimes be dangerous it is worthwhile," she told RTÉ News.
The Department of Defence told RTÉ News today that the investigation into Private Rooney’s death was still ongoing.
The first official UN peacekeeping mission was the deployment of military observers to the Middle East in 1948 to supervise the implementation of Israel-Arab Armistice Agreements, in what became known as the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization.
According to the UN, two million peacekeepers from 125 countries have since served in 71 operations around the world.
Currently, 87,000 women and men are serving in 12 conflict zones across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
Many peacekeeping missions have seen considerable success in maintaining peace in conflict-stricken countries over the past 75 years.
Others, though, have been mired in controversy including allegations of sexual abuse by international peacekeepers in Africa and the accidental introduction of cholera into Haiti.
