Irishman, survivor of 9/11 attacks, dies in his US home
AN Irishman who survived the New York terrorist attacks in which his sister and niece were killed has died.
Corkman Ron Clifford was on the ground floor of the World Trade Center when the first of the 9/11 attacks struck on September 11, 2001.
He survived uninjured. But he was later devastated to learn his 44-year old sister Ruth Clifford McCourt and her four-year-old daughter Juliana died on board one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center.
Mr Clifford campaigned for many years to have those responsible for masterminding the terrorist attacks brought to justice.
He died suddenly at his home in Connecticut in the US on Friday night.
Speaking on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Mr Clifford and his brothers Mark and John expressed their anger that those who masterminded the terrorist plan were never brought to justice.
‘The justice system here has just prevented it and it’s just going around in a circle for years and years,’ he told RTÉ News.
‘I hope in our lifetime we will get our day in court.’
He said he was angry at the failure to bring those responsible for the attacks to justice. His family was deeply affected, but learned to cope over the years.
‘The world has changed. The catastrophic event that we as a family have gone through – I think we have lived our lives since. I think that is the positivity that we give as a family,’ Mr Clifford said.
Ms Clifford McCourt and daughter Juliana were buried in Cork, along with Ruth’s husband and Juliana’s father, David, who died in 2013.
Funeral arrangements for Mr Clifford have not yet been finalised.