LEBANON / UNIFIL FALLEN PEACEKEEPER

STORY: LEBANON / UNIFIL FALLEN PEACEKEEPER
TRT: 3:09
SOURCE: UNIFIL
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: NATS

DATELINE: 18 DECEMBER 2022, BEIRUT AIRPORT, LEBANON

SHOTLIST:

1.Wide shot, UNIFIL Irish peacekeepers attending a solemn ceremony to honor Private Sean Rooney at Beirut Airport before his body began its journey home to Ireland.
2.Med shot, UNIFIL Irish peacekeepers attending a solemn ceremony to honor Private Sean Rooney at Beirut Airport
3. Med shot, UNIFIL Irish peacekeepers holding their guns.
4. Med shot, Lebanese Armed Forces officers attending the ceremony, holding their guns.
5.Wide shot, UNIFIL Irish peacekeepers attending the ceremony.
6.Med shot, UNIFIL Irish peacekeepers attending the ceremony to honor Private Sean Rooney at Beirut Airport.
7.Wide shot, UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander, Major General Aroldo Lázaro, Irish Ambassador to Lebanon Nuala O’Brien, Major General Pierre Saab, representing the Lebanese Army Commander General Joseph Aoun, the Honorary Consul of Lebanon to Ireland, Ambassador George Siam, attending the ceremony.
8.Med shot Irish peacekeepers holding the coffin of Private Sean Rooney.
9.Wide shot, Irish peacekeepers holding the coffin of Private Sean Rooney.
10.Close up, Irish peacekeepers holding the coffin of Private Sean Rooney.
11.Wide shot, Irish peacekeepers standing.
12. Med shot, UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander, Major General Aroldo Lázaro, Irish Ambassador to Lebanon Nuala O’Brien, Major General Pierre Saab, representing Lebanese Army Commander General Joseph Aoun, the Honorary Consul of Lebanon to Ireland, Ambassador George Siam, attending the ceremony.
13. Med shot, UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander, Major General Aroldo Lázaro saluting.
14. Med shot, UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander, Major General Aroldo Lázaro awarded Private Sean Rooney the United Nations medal.
15. Med shot, UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander, Major General Aroldo Lázaro paid his last respects to the Private Sean Rooney.
16.Med shot, Major General Pierre Saab, representing LAF Commander General Joseph Aoun, awarded the war medal to the Private Sean Rooney.
17.Close up, Major General Pierre Saab, representing the Minister of National Defense and the Lebanese Army Commander awarded the medal to the Private Sean Rooney.
18. Med shot, UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander, Major General Aroldo Lázaro laying the wreath.
19. Med shot, UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander, Major General Aroldo Lázaro saluting.
20. Med shot, Irish Ambassador to Lebanon Nuala O’Brien laying the wreath.
21. Med shot, Major General Pierre Saab, representing the Minister of National Defense and the Lebanese Army Command laying the wreath.
22. Med shot, Major General Pierre Saab, representing the Minister of National Defense and the Lebanese Army Command saluting.
23. Med shot, Irish officer laying the wreath.
24.Wide shot, UNIFIL Irish peacekeepers carrying the coffin of the Private Sean Rooney to the airplane.
25.Wide shot, UNIFIL Irish peacekeepers carrying the coffin of the Private Sean Rooney to the airplane while the LAF officers paid their last respects.
26.Wide shot, UNIFIL Irish peacekeepers carrying the coffin of the Private Sean Rooney towards the airplane.
27. Med shot, UNIFIL Irish peacekeepers putting the coffin of the Private Sean Rooney at the airplane.
28. Med shot, UNIFIL Irish peacekeeper putting the wreath at the airplane.
29.Med shot, UNIFIL Irish peacekeepers paid their last respects to the Private Sean Rooney.

STORYLINE:
At a somber ceremony in Beirut, UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Aroldo Lázaro honoured and bade farewell to Private Sean Rooney, the Irish 24-year-old peacekeeper killed late Wednesday night last week.
“Together, we mourn for the loss of Private Rooney,” said Lázaro. “We thank his family, colleagues, and his country for giving us the privilege and honour to serve with him, contributing to the maintenance of the peace in the south of Lebanon.”
The UNIFIL head and other peacekeepers, members of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), and Ms. Nula O’Brien (Ambassador of Ireland to Lebanon) gathered on the tarmac at Rafik Hariri International Airport for the ceremony to pay their final respects. The fallen peacekeeper lay in a coffin covered in Irish and United Nations flags.
“Private Rooney proudly contributed to the mission as a valuable member of an exemplary unit,” said Lázaro. “The Irish-Pol[ish] Battalion is a unit that stands out among others, with a long and brilliant history of service dedicated to the peace in this region.”
In his remarks, UNIFIL’s Head of Mission and Force Commander noted Ireland’s strong and proud history of peacekeeping in Lebanon, having served here since 1978. This long history did not come without sacrifice, however, as Ireland has now lost 48 soldiers serving for peace in UNIFIL, the most of any contingent.
Three other Irish peacekeepers were injured in the attack that took Private Rooney’s life, including Trooper Shane Kearney, who remains in critical but stable condition.
During the ceremony, Major General Lázaro posthumously awarded Private Rooney the United Nations Medal. Major General Pierre Saab, representing LAF Commander General Joseph Aoun, awarded him the War Medal, the Wounded Medal, and the Appreciation Medal Bronze Degree from the Lebanese Armed Forces.
Afterward, Private Rooney’s body was flown home to Ireland, where he will be laid to rest.
The Wednesday night attack remains under investigation by UNIFIL, the Lebanese Armed Forces, and Irish authorities.
As Major General Lázaro said the day after the attack, “As we mourn the loss of Private Sean Rooney, a young Irish soldier full of hope and promise, and send our thoughts and prayers for the full recovery of Private Shane Kearney, we will only redouble our efforts to accomplish our mandate, in their honour.”