Hearing date set for those accused of killing Private Sean Rooney

Private Sean Rooney of Newtowncunningham in Co Donegal, 23, was serving with a UN peacekeeping mission.

The first hearing date for the criminal trial of those accused of killing Private Sean Rooney has been set for July 14 in Lebanon, Tánaiste Micheál Martin told the Dáil.

Private Rooney was killed in Lebanon in December last year. 

The 23-year-old was shot as he drove an armoured jeep away from a crowd of attackers in the south of the country.

Speaking in the Dáil on Wednesday night while taking questions on Defence, Mr Martin said “no stone will be left unturned” to ensure that those responsible for the death of Private Rooney are brought to justice.

Five men could face execution after being charged in connection with the killing of the Irish UN peacekeeper.

Mr Martin said in recent days, the Government has been advised that the first hearing date for the criminal trial has been set for July 14.

Private Rooney’s death is the subject of a number of parallel investigations, with the criminal investigation being carried out by the Lebanese authorities.

Fianna Fáil TD Barry Cowen asked Mr Martin if he was confident that there would be a fair trial in Lebanon. 

He said it has been alleged that the men charged were part of a Hezbollah-led group, of which they deny.

Mr Martin, who is minister for foreign affairs and defence, said he would not speculate on the upcoming trial but said in his meetings with the Lebanese foreign and defence minister, he stressed the need for cooperation and that all of the facts and circumstances of the incident are fully established and no stone left unturned.

He said he emphasised to them that the investigation “be as thorough and as complete as possible”.

He said his department is “monitoring this the whole way.” 

“I agree that lessons have to be learned in terms of evaluating what happened here in terms of the role of Defence Forces and [we] have to constantly seek to learn lessons from terrible atrocities such as this because this is a shocking event, to result in the loss of a very fine Irish soldier,” he said.

Private Rooney and his colleagues were just four minutes from the main highway into Beirut when their vehicle was fired upon on December 14 in the village of Al-Aqibiya after getting separated from another vehicle.

A crowd surrounded their vehicle and were able to prise open the back tailgate of the UNIFIL- branded armoured utility vehicle.

While they managed to escape, a number of men opened fire, and Privte Rooney was hit and killed.