PRESIDENT LETTER FOR KILCULLEN BOSNIA WAR DRIVER

Brian Stuart of Old Kilcullen has received a congratulatory letter from President Catherine Connolly to mark his recent 82nd birthday. Brian, who was at the time in the haulage business, demonstrated bravery and community spirit during the mid-1990s Balkan crisis when he worked as a volunteer driver for Refugee Trust, delivering vital supplies to civilians in Bosnia. 

He undertook up to ten missions, navigating heavy goods vehicles through active war zones. On one of these, he was arrested in the company of two other drivers and detained for a period following a trip under UN escort into the Muslim side of the besieged town of Mostar. At gunpoint, they were accused of smuggling arms to the Muslims, and at one point, Brian was struck on the head.

Longford-born, he had served with the British Army in Germany and subsequently worked from there for several years before coming back to Ireland in 1974 and setting up Transland International Transport from Kilcullen. As he spoke fluent German and was familiar with Yugoslavia, which he had visited many times from Germany, he volunteered because he believed he could be of practical help. 

President Connolly sent her warmest personal congratulations, expressing her hope that on his birthday he was "surrounded by the warmth of happy memories and secure in the knowledge that you continue to make this world a better place for all who love you."

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