President to attend funeral today of Irish UN soldier killed in Lebanon

The Mayo town of Ballyhaunis is expected to come to a standstill this morning for the funeral of Pte William Kedian (21), the Irish soldier who died in Lebanon earlier this week.

Pte Kedian, whose body was flown into Knock Airport, Co Mayo, yesterday, will be buried with full military honours after a funeral Mass at St Patrick's Church, Ballyhaunis. The ceremony will be attended by the President, Mrs McAleese, the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, and the Chief-of-Staff of the Defence Forces, Lieut Gen David Stapleton.

Pte Kedian is the second member of his family to die during military service. His great-granduncle, Lance Cpl Thomas Kedian, fell at the Somme at the age of 26 on July 7th, 1916, while serving with the 10th Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers. The whereabouts of Lance Cpl Kedian's grave is unknown, but his death is commemorated at the Thiepval Memorial in France.

Pte Kedian's body was flown by an Air Corps Casa maritime patrol craft to Knock yesterday from London, and was taken during a torrential hail and rain shower by hearse to Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar. The Casa pilot was Capt Owen McGrath, and the body was accompanied by Capt Earnan O Neachtain, second-in-command of C company, one of four companies serving with the 85th Battalion of UNIFIL in Lebanon.

Present at the arrival at Knock were Pte Kedian's parents, Bill and Doris, his sisters, Ann and Mary, and his brother-in-law, Michael Lenihan. The Defence Forces were represented by Brig Gen John Martin, GoC Western Brigade, and Lieut Col Martin Coughlan, Officer Commanding the 1st Battalion at Dun Mhaoliosa Barracks in Renmore, Galway, where Pte Kedian had been based.

Maj Gen Colm Mangan, deputy chief-of-staff support with the Defence Forces, attended the removal Mass in Ballyhaunis last night.

Today members of the 1st Battalion from Renmore will comprise the bearer, escort and pallbearer parties for the military funeral. Pte Kedian will be buried in Ballyhaunis cemetery after a 21-gun salute and a rendition of the Last Post by a drummer and trumpeter from the band of the Western Brigade.

Pte Kedian was killed early on Monday by mortar fire from an Israeli look-out position overlooking the town of Brashit in southern Lebanon. His friend, Pte Ronnie Rushe, from Boggadh, Co Offaly, suffered serious shrapnel injuries, while a third soldier, Pte Darren Clarke from Swinford, Co Mayo, received superficial injuries.

The condition of Pte Rushe remains serious in intensive care in hospital in Haifa, where members of his family maintain a vigil. A leading consultant, Mr Oscar Treanor, and an anaesthetist, Mr Alan McShane, flew out by Government jet to consult with the Israeli medical authorities and Pte Rushe's family on Thursday.