Tribute to our diamond
Hundreds mourn brave officer Colm in his home town Family, friends & officers grieve for ‘good, decent man’
CHARLESTOWN in Co Mayo will come to a standstill today as hero garda detective Colm Horkan is laid to rest.
While only a handful of heartbroken mourners are permitted in the church, hundreds are expected to line the town’s streets to say a final farewell to the officer.
At midday, as his funeral Mass begins, colleagues will hold a parade at Garda HQ in Dublin led by Deputy Commissioner John Twomey.
Garda stations across the country – including in Dundalk where tragic officers Adrian Donohoe and Tony Golden both served – will follow suit.
Det Gda Horkan is the 89th member of An Garda Siochana in the history of the organisation to have died while on duty. Nicknamed Bear by those who knew and loved him, he was killed with his own service weapon in Castlerea, Co Roscommon, on Wednesday night.
Sadness has overwhelmed both towns as the nation mourns the death of the brave officer. Det Gda Horkan, 49, was much loved both in his home
of Charlestown and in Ballaghdereen in Co Roscommon where he served as a garda for 13 years.
His close friend Stephen Healy, who grew up just a couple of doors down from him in Charlestown, spoke of the shock of hearing his childhood pal had been killed. He told the Irish Sunday
Mirror: “I got the call at two o’clock in the morning from the chairman of the [GAA] club who is actually a first cousin of Colm.
“I didn’t answer the call because I thought it might have been a wrong number.
“But then two minutes later his brother called me... I said when two members of the same family are ringing me something isn’t right.” The pair grew up playing GAA together for Charlestown Sarsfield and formed a close bond on the pitch.
Stephen recalled: “We would have started out together in our football journey at the age of 10 and would have soldiered for the next 30 years and had lots of successes and shared great times.
“We developed a bond, friendship and camaraderie and were good