THE first hearing date for the criminal trial of those accused of killing Donegal peacekeeper Private Seán Rooney takes place on Friday.
The date was revealed by Tánaiste Micheál Martin in the Dáil in recent days.
Private Rooney was killed in Lebanon in December last year. The 23-year-old from Newtowncunningham was killed as he drove an armoured jeep away from a crowd of attackers in the south of the country.
Five men could face execution after being charged in connection with the killing of the Irish UN peacekeeper.
Private Rooney’s death is the subject of a number of parallel investigations, with the criminal investigation being carried out by the Lebanese authorities.
Private Rooney and his colleagues were just four minutes from the main highway into Beirut when their vehicle was fired upon on December 14, 2022 in the village of Al-Aqibiya after getting separated from another vehicle.
A crowd surrounded their vehicle and it is understood they prised open the back of the UNIFIL- branded armoured utility vehicle.
While they managed to escape, a number of men opened fire, and Private Rooney was hit and killed.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin, who is Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence, told the Dáil recently he would not speculate on the upcoming trial but said in his meetings with the Lebanese foreign and defence minister, he has 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”.
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