Army colleagues turn out in force to remember fallen comrade – 20 years on

It was twenty years, almost to the day, since the Galway family of a serving UN solider got the news that all dread and none can ever prepare for – that their son had been killed on peacekeeping duty over 8,000 miles away from home.

Pte Peadar Ó Flatharta was killed in a shooting accident in East Timor on April 15, 2002, and he was buried with full military honours in his native Trá Bháin.

To mark two decades since his death, his family, friends and army colleagues gathered again over his graveside to remember a 21-year-old Conamara man who made the ultimate sacrifice in the cause of peace.

His death – like all who lose their lives in service – is annually commemorated by his Army comrades at his old barracks, Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa in Renmore. But because this marked 20 years, Peadar’s family asked that it be moved to his graveside.

On Thursday, the day before his 20th anniversary, more than 200 people gathered, as his family – his mother Máirín, sisters Marie and Ann and brothers Pádraig and Tomás – were joined by senior Irish Army officers, as well as the New Zealand Ambassador to Ireland, Brad Burgess, and a delegation of top brass from the New Zealand Defence Forces, to mark his 20th anniversary.

The New Zealand link is also a strong one because the UN mission was under the auspices of ANZAC – the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps – and each year Peadar is also among those remembered on April 25, ANZAC Remembrance Day.

You can get the full story and photographic coverage in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now – or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie