Pte Sean Rooney’s coffin draped in Irish tricolour carried by IDF colleagues to Air Corps plane to bring his remains back to Ireland
The 24-year-old’s remains will arrive back in Ireland after travelling from Beirut International Airport overnight on an Air Corps aircraft.
Private Rooney, 24, who spent many years in Newtowncunningham, Co Donegal, was shot and killed last week when the armoured vehicle he was travelling in was attacked in a coastal village in southern Lebanon.
He was due to get married next August to his fiancee Holly McConnellogue who he met in Derry three years ago.
She paid her own heartfelt tribute to Sean saying: “He was a fantastic person to be with.
“He was one of the good ones, as they say. He taught me so much about myself and about unconditional love. He really showed me what unconditional love is like.”
Mr Rooney was “so passionate about his career in the Army,” his fiancee said.
“He was one of the good ones, as they say. He taught me so much about myself and about unconditional love. He really showed me what unconditional love is like.”
After a solemn UN ceremony at the airport yesterday, Pte Rooney’s remains were placed on an Air Corps CASA plane which stopped off in Malta for refuelling and is due to land in Dublin early this morning.
No details have yet been released about his funeral but his family are expected to decide those details shortly.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the Government will offer Pte Rooney’s family a full military funeral for Sean.
His colleague, Trooper Shane Kearney, 23, suffered blunt force trauma to the head in the attack, however the Irish officer commanding the 121st Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Damien Murphy said that Trooper Kearney was making progress – even if still critically injured.
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