by Louise Doyle
THE mum of a Newtowncunningham peacekeeper killed in the Lebanon has spoken of her pride in her son following the funding of Ireland’s first dedicated ‘Rainbows Room’ in his memory.
Natasha McCloskey was speaking at the launch of the project, which opened in Ratoath Community College on Tuesday in memory of her son, Sean Rooney.
The project offers a safe space for children and young people experiencing loss due to bereavement or parental separation to meet and talk to others facing the same experience.
Poignantly, Private Seán Rooney (24) who was killed while on active service in the Lebanon in 2022, used this service when his own father died when he was just 10 years old.
Natasha McCloskey said: “Seán was 10 when his dad passed, and his primary school got me in touch with Rainbows , so he did the programme and he really benefited from it.
“It’s a very fitting legacy that he would help young children because he was such a good person,” she said.
Christopher O’Neill, Private Rooney’s best friend, has played a key role in fundraising and organising a charity football match in which friends and family of Pte Rooney played against an army select team in Dundalk’s Oriel Park. Pte Rooney was born in Dundalk.
Named the Seán Rooney Cup, the charity match played last December raised € 21, 077 for charity.
Meanwhile, Tánaiste Micheal Martin met with Lebanon’s most senior politicians to demand justice for murdered Pte Rooney this week. He had been serving in Lebanon for the second time on peacekeeping duty with the United Nations when his convoy came under attack
Mr Martin, who is Minister for Defence as well as Foreign Affairs, met with Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib in Beirut this week, as part of a visit to some 391 Irish UN peacekeepers in the warn-torn south of the country.
He said after the meeting that he has concerns about the slow pace of the case against the five men accused of the murder of Pte Rooney.
One of the accused, Mohamma Ayyad, has admitted shooting Pte Rooney in the incident, which also injured Trooper Shane Kearney (24) from Cork.
However, although Ayyad, who is linked to the powerful political and military force Hezbollah admitted his guilt, neither he nor the other four suspects are in custody. The case against the men has now been put back to June of next year, at the very earliest.
Speaking after the meeting, Mr Martin said that this was “not good enough”.
He said: “I spoke with the Foreign Minister, and also with their lawyer representing the Minister for Defence on the case.
“We’re very concerned. We want justice to be done. And we want those who committed the crime, killing Seán Rooney and injuring other Irish soldiers brought to justice.
“We understand the separation of powers (but) we’re concerned at the slow pace of the trial.
“And the Irish people want justice in respect of what happened.”
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