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LAST UPDATE | 16 Dec 2022
FOUR IRISH MILITARY investigators are travelling to Lebanon tomorrow following the fatal attack on Irish troops, with the repatriation of the body of Private Seán Rooney not yet finalised.
The investigators are travelling with a team of eight personnel who will support troops, and assist in the investigation that is underway into the attack on Irish peacekeepers that left Private Seán Rooney (23) dead, Private Shane Kearney (22) critically injured, and two others with minor injuries on Wednesday night.
The Irish Defence Forces team includes a legal officer, and three military police investigators who will aid the Defence Forces’ investigation into the attack and the events that lead up to it.
The Irish investigation is one of three that are underway; the other two investigations include an international one led by the United Nations, and an investigation being carried out by Lebanese Authorities.
The three investigations will be carried out in a collaborative manner.
A spokesperson for the Defence Forces has said that as of the latest update today, Private Kearney’s condition is unchanged – he is still critical and receiving treatment in hospital. The two other personnel that were injured are also still receiving medical treatment and psychological support in hospital.
Defence Minister Simon Coveney today visited the family of Private Rooney in Dundalk earlier today, saying that “every avenue” will be followed to get the truth about his death.
“Minister Coveney expressed his profound sorrow on behalf of the government and the people of Ireland for the loss of Private Rooney while serving the state and the United Nations as a peacekeeper,” said a spokesperson for the Minister.
“The Minister pledged all ongoing support to the family, including the swift repatriation of Private Rooney.
“The Minister said every avenue, through both Irish and international investigations, will be followed to get to the truth about the killing of Private Sean Rooney.”
A large vigil was held by locals in Kearney’s hometown, Killeagh village in east Cork, last night in support of the injured soldier.
The local Parish Priest Fr Tim Hazelwood said that the news that the soldier is in a critical condition has left the tight-knit community he comes from in shock.
The attack that saw Pt Kearney injured and Pt Rooney killed happened after 11pm on Wednesday night when an eight-person convoy, accompanied by Lebanese authorities, set out from the UNIFIL base in Naqoura to Beirut International Airport to allow two recently bereaved peacekeepers travel home to Ireland.
The vehicle carrying the peacekeepers who were attacked got separated from the other one and the Lebanese authorities, and turned off the main road into the village of Al-Aqbiya, where it came under a small arms fire attack. It is not yet known how the two vehicles became separated.
The Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati has said it is now “important” to prevent similar attacks following Seán Rooney’s killing.
He also promised that “those who will be proven guilty will be punished”.
Mikati and army chief Joseph Aoun today visited the UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura, and denounced the attack that claimed Private Rooney’s life.
It is understood that villagers in the Al-Aqbiya area, a Hezbollah stronghold, blocked Rooney’s vehicle after it took a road along the Mediterranean coast not normally used by the United Nations force.
A Lebanese judicial source has told AFP that Private Rooney was killed by a bullet to the head when seven projectiles pierced the vehicle the peacekeepers were travelling in.
The three others were injured when the vehicle hit a pylon and overturned, the source added.
The same source said that initial evidence suggested that there were two shooters, who are now being sought by security forces.
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said that the fatal attack was a “crime against the international community, and against peacekeepers who are here to maintain stability.”
Following a meeting in Naqura with the force’s commander, Major General Aroldo Lazaro, Lebanon’s Mikati said “the investigation continues in order to determine the circumstances of the incident”.
The spokesperson further stated that Private Rooney’s family are being regularly updated on the situation in Lebanon, and his mother Natasha is in regular contact with Defence Forces personnel.
It is not clear yet whether an autopsy is going to take place first in Lebanon before Private Rooney’s body is repatriated home, but that process has not begun at this stage.
Four Personal Support Service Personnel are travelling with the investigating team in order to provide support to the troops who have been impacted by this tragic incident.
The trained counsellors will land in Camp Shamrock tomorrow evening, where the UN Interim Forces (UNIFIL) base is located in the south of the country, along the coast.
Currently the soldiers and personnel there are being supported by the Army Chaplain who is stationed within the camp.
In Ireland, flags outside all military stations will be flown at half mast until Private Rooney’s funeral.
Tributes
Lieutenant Colonel Frank Colclough, the Commanding Officer of the 27th Infantry Battalion in Dundalk, paid tribute to Private Rooney on Morning Ireland earlier today.
He said that he hopes to be able to speak to the soldier’s mother Natasha this morning, who has gone from her home in Co Donegal to her grandparents home in Dundalk, to be surrounded by close relations.
“Seán was a big member of a tightknit community of military personnel in Dundalk where everyone knows each other, and is very involved in sports in the town,” Colclough said.
He said that military personnel travelled to deliver the news of her son’s death to Natasha at 4am, in an effort to make sure that she was informed and supported before the news became widespread.
Colcough added that Natasha’s brother is Sergeant John Rooney, who is currently serving in the Aiken Barracks, and so they are very much a family who are rooted in the military, and part of the community.
“It is hard to go out and deliver that knock on the door, but it is even harder to receive the news on the other side. To have three people that you don’t know bringing you shocking and tragic news, it is hard to comprehend,” he said.
Colcough said that Seán was on his second tour of Lebanon when this fatal attack occurred, and he had three years of military service under his belt, having joined in Garrettstown.
“He has so many courses and qualifications completed for his age and length of service, he had advanced driving and motorbike courses completed, and we always need good drivers in Lebanon.
“He embarked on his first tour out there with the 109 Battalion this time last year,” Colcough said, adding that Seán was there for the same reason as other military personnel – to represent his country.
Additional reporting from © – AFP 2022 and Tadgh McNally
Call it what you like, it’ll still be the same old dinosaur with the same terrible attitude to competition and customers alike.
10yrs with sky. 1 phone call to customer care. 6mths with Eircom, over 25 calls and 10 different engineers have called to the house. Most are from companies where the work has been sub contracted to them. All are as useless as the last. Sorry I ever left sky.
The best those over paid Gob**ites can come up with is a rebrand !! Huw about not leaving your customers hanging on the line for 2hrs when they ring up to report a fault !!!
Messed about by so call customer care, Moved to UPC 1 year ago no issues.
It’s alright if your able to get upc , but not all of Ireland is covered.
just wait till you try to cancel. atrocious service. look at the Twitter
Eircom are a joke. Two complaints to Comreg regarding there shabby broadband. Moved to SKY and no problems with my broadband since. People are sick to the back teeth of companies like Eircom with their half price offers for their half baked services.
the ‘Only’ ‘Free’ ‘Just’ services. be sick of them. nothing is just, only, free. its all crap.
look rebranding wont change anything bar the name…in general “if it looks like sh!t smells like sh!t its usually sh!t”
The telecoms regulator seems pretty useless and overwhelmed by everything
They need to take firm action again Eircom when they mess their customers around
Only way to change the Eircom culture
left sky a few years ago to join eircom. what a mistake. rejoined sky again recently. Eircoms customer service was brutal. No manners, unprofessional and didn’t give a toss. sky might be more expensive but the quality is second to none. Never again using eircom
You can put a fairy on it and cover it in lights, but it’s still a tree.
I’m sure it will be a suitably shite branding effort by a bad marketing team that will waste money, pat themselves on the back and push the company further into the debt.
The creation of eMobile to differentiate it from Meteors downmarket image had to be the worse, least creative, no clear message, creation of a brand that just wasted masses of cash…
Sooo glad to be away from eircom. Ever since I’d been with them there’s been nothing but problems.
A turd in a tuxedo is still a turd.
One of the worst companies i ve ever dealth with.
The area where my parents live was supposed to get efiber in January, then June, then July, now September! They throttled the line into the exchange and did sod all about another exchange even though they knew there was a problem. Sky were more than helpful in trying to sort out speed issues but couldn’t do that much because Eircom ultimately run the lines. The biggest holdup to top rate broadband in this country is Eircom who have held us back by years. If you live in a big city or town you are sorted, the rest of the country doesn’t matter in Eircoms eyes.
I will be rebranding my anger and disdain in response.
Any telecoms company that offers a service that runs 24 hours a day, ie. Broadband, should have a 24hour customer care line, with people who can speak clear English.
All operators resell Eircom lines, so it all comes back in the end
Sky use BT Ireland to provide their service but in the end its Eircom who service the call.
No matter what you call it, it’s still the same shite, never have and never will use eircon
Eir is the new brand name.
Lennie – surely it couldn’t be that corny?? Eir?
has nobody told them that people read the small print now? how can people come out of a recession with their wages still cut in s*** and ye expect us to pay your overpriced ripoff service? i mean €80 for 2 months tv/broadband, thats insane. change your name, do what ye like, your marketing people are deluded if they think a name change can change peoples will to spend what they don’t have.
Their marketing departments have always been deluded, you see what passes for advertising or customer promotions with those guys? They think this stuff is dynamite.. Only a deluded person could ever think that.
Answer then better to improve there broadband services rather than pay millions on new logo .Ask some them engineers we can’t understand when we ring with problem to give it a new name then no one will know who to blame then because no can every make out there saying.
Are you sure it’s not the customer service people that can’t understand what YOU’RE saying?
The government needs to step in and separate Eircom the service provider from Eircom the engineering and line installers. They can’t be trusted to install lines and do service calls for other operators, they’ve been shown to give priority to their own customers first. There needs to be a completely independent engineer company that can handle service call outs and line installs for all the operators without giving priority or just being flat out sh!t
Changing the brand won’t make a fig of a difference. A brand change is not a magic wand. You’ve got to fix the problems first, then when you’re beginning to operate properly you can begin to think about a brand change.
Eircom have many issues to sort out. The company should be ashamed of itself that it allowed the company to sink so low. Very very bad management obviously.
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