Fallen soldier Private Seán Rooney remembered at graveside ceremony

Army veterans honoured the memory of fallen soldier Private Seán Rooney at his Newtowncunningham graveside on Sunday.

Private Rooney was killed while on a UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon on December 14, 2022.

Irish United Nations Veterans Association (IUNVA) Post 19 held a wreath laying ceremony attended by Private Rooney’s family, including his parents Paul Rooney and Natasha McCloskey and his fiancé, Holly McConnellogue.

The 23-year-old Private Rooney was driving an armoured jeep when a UN peacekeeping convoy in which he was traveling came under attack in the south Lebanon town of Al-Aqbiya.

Last December, he was interred in the cemetery after his Funeral Mass at the Church of All Saints.

Six wreaths were laid at Private Rooney’s grave on Sunday.

The December rain subsided briefly as wreaths were laid on behalf of: IUNVA Post 19 North West; IUNVA Post 2 in Kerry; IUNVA Post 10 from south Donegal; serving soldiers from the 28th Infantry Battalion; the Military Police Association; and the 28th Infantry Battalion Association.

The ceremony was conducted under the watch of former Sergeant James McEvoy.

UNIFIL veteran Jim O’Hagan, the Chairperson of IUNVA Post 19, played a piper’s lament.The Last Post and Reveille also sounded at the sombre ceremony and the attendance stood to attention for the playing of Amhrán na bhFiann.

Newtowncunningham-based Fianna Fáil Councillor Paul Canning was among the attendance, which included a large crowd of retired soldiers.

O’Hagan told the Rooney family that the memory of Private Seán Rooney will never be forgotten. He said the veterans regarded Private Rooney as a hero.

They would continue to honour the memory of Private Rooney and all deceased members.

O’Hagan made a presentation to Natasha McCloskey while Daniel Toland, the IUNVA Post 19 treasurer, made a presentation to Holly McConnellogue, Private Rooney’s fiancé who he was due to wed in August. They were each presented with framed ‘FF badge’, the Irish Defence Forces cap badge.

Private Rooney, a Dundalk native who had lived in Newtowncunningham for the past decade, became the 48th entrant into the Óglaigh na hÉireann Roll of Honour.

Last month, Mohammad Ayyad, the only person yet to be charged with the killing of Private Rooney, was released from custody having been handed over to the military 12 months ago by Hezbollah.

Ayyad appeared before a military court hearing in Beirut in August and admitted to firing a gun during the attack. Four other men -  - Ali Khalifeh, Ali Salman, Hussein Salman, and Mustafa Salman - remain at large.

In a recent response to a Parliamentary Question, the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence, Micheál Martin said that he has ‘consistently expressed my determination that all of the facts and circumstances of the incident are fully established and that no stone is left unturned to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice’.