GARDA O’ROURKE HEADS TO ROUNDWOOD AFTER 18 YEARS IN BLESSINGTON
THE community of Blessington bid Garda Mick O’Rourke a fond farewell as he headed to pastures new in Roundwood.
The Community Garda moved to Blessington from Tallaght in September of 2000 and soon settled into life in west Wicklow.
Garda O’Rourke’s farewell party in the Avon Ri Lakeshore Resort was organised by fellow colleagues from Blessington Garda Station.
Mick also received presentations from the Blessington Forum and Blessington GAA Club. The Offaly man is a big GAA fan and, over the past 18 years, has held many positions with Blessington GAA Club, including that of Chairman for a number of years. He has also managed the senior, junior and minor teams.
Larry Curran is a former neighbour of Mick’s at Deerpark in Blessington and he gathered some local musicians to provide a wonderful nights entertainment of traditional Irish music.
Mick has transferred to Roundwood where he has already begun his duties, however, Blessington will never be far from his heart.
‘I would like to thank everyone in the Blessington community for all their support down through the years. We have had some terrible tragedies and bad fatalities in that time, like Ciaran Jones, James Nolan and Louise Fleming, but the local community always really rallied around in support. I have a lot to thank people for,’ said Gda O’Rourke.