Congo massacre survivor settles court action

ONE of the two survivors of the Niemba massacre in the Congo in 1960 has settled his High Court action over a 2006 report prepared for the Minister for Defence into the greatest loss of life of Irish soldiers on UN peacekeeping duties.

Eight Irish peacekeepers were butchered after their patrol was attacked by Baluba tribesmen on November 8, 1960. Former trooper Tom Kenny, 72, of Ballyfermot, Dublin, who, with Joe Fitzpatrick, survived the ambush at Niemba in the Congo, has for years claimed his good name was impugned because of the army’s allegedly incorrect history of the incident.

The Minister for Defence asked the army authorities to revisit the matter and, following an investigation of several months by Colonel Thomas Behan, a detailed report was presented to the minister in November 2006.