Louth TD seeks answers on man sentenced to death for killing of Private Sean Rooney

"Where is the man sentenced to death for the killing of Dundalk soldier Private Sean Rooney?", is the question that Louth Sinn Féin TD Ruairí Ó Murchú is asking following the surprise news on Monday night that Mohammad Ayyad and a number of other men were convicted and sentenced in relation to the December 2022 death of the UN peacekeeper.

The Louth TD said his first thoughts are with the family of Sean Rooney, whose grandparents live in Dundalk, and his friends and his Defence Forces’ colleagues.

He said that while the verdicts in the court case in Lebanon are welcome, it is "absolutely ridiculous" that Ayyad, who received a death sentence which is expected to be commuted to a lengthy prison term, is still at large.

In addition, he said the other defendants’ sentences, which ranged from monetary fines to a number of months in prison, were "extraordinarily lenient by any terms".

Deputy Ó Murchú said: "First and foremost, we need to know where Ayyad is. He was released on bail following his first court appearances because of an apparent medical issue, but has not appeared since and is at large.

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"While I welcome the fact that he has been found guilty and sentenced, no-one can be impressed with the situation that he is not actually in custody’.

The Dundalk TD said he would write to Tánaiste Simon Harris and Taoiseach Micheál Martin about the case, to urge them to use all avenues open to the State to ensure that Ayyad is captured and serves the sentence he was handed down.

In addition, Deputy Ó Murchú said the Rooney family needs to know all the circumstances of how the 24-year-old peacekeeper was killed. He said there are a number of other investigations into the death, including at UN and Defence Forces’ level, that "need to provide information to the family, as well as providing opportunities to learn from what happened so that this never can happen again".