A Dublin coroner has said her “default position” is to hold an inquest into the death of Pte Seán Rooney in public, but acknowledged security concerns raised by the Defence Forces in relation to sensitive information.
A preliminary inquest hearing concerning Rooney was held on Thursday. The Irish soldier was killed in a 2022 attack on a convoy of Irish peacekeepers on a United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) deployment.
Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane said it was “strongly felt” by the Defence Forces that certain sensitive issues should not be heard in public during the inquest.
While her default position is that the inquiry should be a “public exposition of facts”, Cullinane said a determination has not yet been made on the matter.
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However, she reiterated that certain evidence, “given the sensitivities and matters pertaining to the Defence Forces”, may have to be heard in private.
The Defence Forces previously argued that putting “extremely sensitive” information into the public domain through the inquest would elevate operational risks to personnel deployed to the Unifil mission.
In addition to submissions previously made by the Rooney family and the Defence Forces, solicitor Matthew Austin, appearing on behalf of The Irish Times, said the circumstances surrounding Rooney’s death are clearly in the public interest.
Where restrictions or privacy are deemed necessary during the inquest, Austin said the law is “relatively clear that it must be a minimalistic approach”.
He said the least restrictive approach must be taken by the court, adding that it should remain vigilant against imposing press restrictions beyond what is “absolutely necessary”.
Noting that she has no statutory power to restrict reporting, Cullinane said she was left with only one option, which was to exclude members of the public and media from the court for a period. This was to establish the nature of the sensitive information.
All present were asked to leave, other than members of the Rooney family, their legal representatives and legal representatives of the Defence Forces, alongside instructing members.
Following the private session, Cullinane said “matters have been dealt with to some extent”, though she did not expand further.
She adjourned the matter to April, saying she anticipated the next preliminary hearing would “in the large, be held in public”.
Rooney, from Newtowncunningham, Co Donegal, was killed by gunfire when his armoured vehicle was ambushed as it drove north through Al-Aqbiya, a town controlled by the Iran-backed militant group Hizbullah.
In July last year, six people were found guilty of involvement by a Lebanese military court. One of the men, Mohammad Ayyad, was sentenced to death in absentia. A seventh person was acquitted.
Ayyad had previously been arrested and detained for allegedly taking part in the attack. However, he was freed by a Lebanese military court on medical grounds and did not attend subsequent hearings.
Speaking to media in Lebanon last December, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the sentencing was “extremely lenient and the people are at large”, describing it as “deeply unacceptable and unsatisfactory”.
