Hero garda who lived 42 years with bomb injuries passes away
Tributes to brave officer maimed by IRA in 1976 attack
A YEAR after he was honoured by the State for his bravery, a hero garda who was seriously injured in an IRA bombing in 1976 has died aged 74.
Tom Peters was one of five gardaí lured to a farmhouse in Co. Laois after reports of IRA members assembling a bomb to kill Oliver J Flanagan, father of current Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan.
Garda Michael Clerkin, from Monaghan, was killed instantly, while Garda Peters, Ben Thornton, Jim Cannon and Gerry Bohan were all maimed in the attack in Garryhinch on the Laois-Offaly border on October 16, 1976.
Garda Peters suffered horrific injuries that resulted in the loss of his sight and hearing, which impacted on the rest of his life.
Minister Charlie Flanagan yesterday paid tribute to the garda.
He tweeted: ‘Very sorry to learn of the sad passing of courageous Garda Tom Peters.’
Mr Flanagan later expanded on his comments, saying: ‘He was a garda who displayed great courage and bravery in the performance of his duties. I want to acknowledge that he paid a huge sacrifice and displayed great fortitude in the years since.’
The atrocity happened just days after the government had introduced the Emergency Powers Act following the murder of British ambassador Christopher Ewart-Biggs in Dublin.
The injured gardaí were honoured last November with Scott Medals, the Garda force’s highest honour, for bravery. Garda Clerkin was also awarded the medal posthumously.
In 2016, the 40th anniversary of the attack was marked with a memorial Mass for Garda Clerkin in Portarlington, Co. Laois.
Following the memorial, Garda Cannon – who still receives treatment for his injuries – described the survivors as the ‘forgotten people’. He called on Sinn Féin’s Gerry Adams to apologise on behalf of the bombers – who have never been caught, but are believed to have been IRA members. Mr Adams later issued an apology in the Dáil.
Garda Peters, late of Stradbally Road, Portlaoise, and formerly of Dunnamaggin, Co. Kilkenny, passed away on Saturday.
He is survived by his wife Betty and daughters Elma and Breidette. He is predeceased by his son, Dick.
After her father was awarded the Scott Medal last year, Elma said: ‘On that night in 1976, five men went out and only four came home. The lives of all those affected, the men and their families, were changed irrevocably by the bomb. My father said he was honoured to receive the Scott Medal. It’s important that they have all finally got the recognition for their bravery that night.’
John Scanlon, Chief Superintendent of the Laois-Offaly Garda Division, said yesterday that the lifelong injuries Garda Peters garda suffered were a testament to the ‘futility of violence’. Both Chief Supt Scanlon and Minister Flanagan were present in November 2017 when Garda Peters was presented with his Scott Medal for bravery with his colleagues and the relatives of Michael Clerkin.
Chief Supt Scanlon extended sympathies to the Peters family yesterday. He said it was important that the deceased’s bravery was honoured at the Garda College in Templemore last year.
‘Our thoughts are with his wife and family who cared for him over the last 40 years. I met Tom and his family a number of times and knows how much it [the Scott Medal] meant to him,’ he told the Leinster Leader.
Chief Supt Scanlon said the injuries suffered and endured during Tom’s life should be seen in the context of violent times.
The senior garda added that it was important that such attacks are not airbrushed out of history. ‘We should forgive but we should never forget,’ he said.
The Garda Representative Association yesterday extended its condolences. ‘His sacrifice will never be forgotten by his family, Garda colleagues and friends,’ said the GRA in a statement.
The funeral Mass will take place this morning at 11am at Peter and Paul’s Church, Portlaoise.
‘We should never forget’
BY any reckoning, it has been a difficult few years for An Garda Síochána. But it should never be forgotten that the vast majority of the force’s members have served with distinction throughout the years.
More than four decades have passed since Tom Peters, who has died aged 74, suffered horrific injuries in an IRA bombing incident that killed one of his colleagues. We should always remember the many sacrifices that these brave officers – and others like them – have made on behalf of us all.