He was solid as a rock, both on and off the field
Pals hail Det Horkan as family are left ‘shattered and heartbroken’
SLAIN Garda Colm Horkan was last night remembered as a “rock of integrity” and a fearless leader.
As his devastated family prepares for his funeral, a sea of tributes poured in as relatives and a huge circle of friends struggle to cope with his death.
One of Det Gda Horkan’s closest pals told yesterday how they are “absolutely shattered and heartbroken”.
Ex-sergeant John Hynes, who had worked with him at Castlerea Garda station, said: “I called to the house a couple of hours ago and I mean they’re absolutely shattered, heartbroken and what can you do, what can you say?
“He left the house yesterday at approximately two o’clock, he watched some racing live on television with his dad which they both had an interest in.
“He said goodbye to his dad and he went off to work and that’s the last memory his poor dad is going to have of him,” he told Joe Duffy on RTE’S Liveline.
Mr Hynes added they remained close after he retired a number of years ago and described him as an “absolute rock of integrity” and “true professional”.
He said: “From the get-go, Colm was the most reliable guy you could get. His attention to detail in every aspect of the job was absolutely exemplary. He was one of nature’s gentlemen. I couldn’t praise him enough.
“I’m saying this from the bottom of my heart. He was my right-hand man when I was at work and he was one of the best friends I ever had in An Garda Siochana and since I retired outside the job.”
Mr Hynes said a former colleague phoned him in the early hours of Thursday to tell him about the shooting but he didn’t find out until later that his pal passed away from his injuries.
He added: “A colleague who was on my unit at Castlerea broke the news to me. I wasn’t sure if it was something very serious – if he was critically injured or fatally injured.”
It emerged football fanatic Mr Horkan, who represented Mayo at U-21 level, enjoyed a laugh with pals in a Whatsapp chat less than two hours before he was killed in Castlerea, Co Roscommon, on Wednesday night.
Lifelong friend and former Mayo senior footballer John Casey said: “It’s hard to imagine that not long after he posted he was called to an incident where he was to lose his life.”
The businessman, from Charlestown, Co Mayo, said the 49-year-old – affectionately nicknamed “The Bear” –
Aidan O’shea was “solid as a rock, both on and off the field”. He added: “If you were to get into bother on the sporting field Colm would be the first to bail you out.”
As the country mourned, for the Horkan family it was the third time they have been plunged into grief in recent years.
The detective’s twin sister Colette died after battling cancer in 2005, four years after the sudden death of their mother Dolores. Stephen Healy, who is former manager of Colm’s club Charlestown Sarsfields, said: “The family has been touched by tragedy previously and this has compounded it.
“There’s going to be a lot of devastation in a lot of houses in the town because he would have touched a lot of lives over the years.
“Colm would have a lot of very good friends. People are distraught, that would be the word I’d use. It’s despair, turmoil.” He added the detective – the