Investigations are underway into the death of Private Seán Rooney.
The 23-year-old Donegal native was killed in Lebanon after the convoy he was travelling with came under fire on its way to Beirut.
Four personnel were rushed to hospital and Private Rooney was pronounced dead on arrival; one soldier was taken into surgery and the other two were treated for minor injuries.
“As soon as the incident was reported, three inquiries will have kicked in immediately,” Senator Gerard Craughwell explained to Newstalk.
“The United Nations will carry out their own independent inquiry, the Lebanese authority will carry out their inquiry and the Irish Defence Forces will carry out an inquiry themselves.”
"Anything we say will be insufficient to deal with the grief which his mother must be carrying" President Higgins on the death of Private Seán Rooney who was killed on active duty in Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/ODrQaIwTvb
— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) December 15, 2022
Hezbollah has denied involvement in Private Rooney’s death but Minister for Defence Simon Coveney said he could not accept their assurances until the conclusion of Ireland’s investigation.
"We don't accept any assurances until we have a full investigation concluded to establish the full truth,” he told RTÉ.
"I am not going to read anything into any statements for now, but simply to say that we owe it to the Defence Forces, to people who serve in uniform abroad as peacekeepers and in particular to the family, who are dealing with extraordinary loss right now, to establish the truth.”
Irish troops have served in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon since its establishment in 1978.
Main image: Private Seán Rooney. Picture by: The Rooney family.
