Detective Dan celebrates retirement
Well-known Wexford detective Dan O’Sullivan who worked at the frontline in serious criminal investigations in Wexford, was the toast of his family, colleagues and friends as he celebrated his retirement from An Garda Siochana after 38 years service.
A native of Youghal, County Cork, Dan spent his entire career in the Wexford Division, becoming an adopted Wexfordman after marrying nurse Eithne Turner and putting down roots in the area. He passed out of Templemore training college in 1982 and was posted to Wexford town as a young Garda recruit, later being transferred to Rosslare for a time, in advance of his marriage to Eithne in 1985, due to the Garda Code 7.6 which stipulated that you couldn’t be stationed within 20 miles of where your wife’s family lived.
Service in Rosslare was followed by the Traffic Corps in Gorey in 1986 and Rosslare Harbour in 1987 before he was re-appointed in 1988 back to the Wexford station where he remained for the rest of his career. Dan joined the Detective Branch in 1998 and was involved in major criminal investigations in the county. He worked for the past 14 years alongside partner Detective Garda Dave Beale whom he described as ‘a great source of help and support’.
Inspector John Hunt of Tramore Garda Station (and formerly of Wexford) who worked with Dan for many years, described him as a steady, straight-talking member of the force who could always be relied on in a crisis.
Detective Sergeant Mick Troy also commended him on his work, saying they had worked side by side and collaborated on many enquiries.
Dan’s son Danny paid a personal tribute, saying he and his brother Seamus were proud of their dad’s job as a detective in their home town. Despite both their parents having busy careers involving shift work, they never felt they lost out as one or other of them was always there for the school run or the sideline support.
Dan’s parents Dan and Kitty came up from Cork for the party which was held in the
Thomas Moore Tavern and his sister Patricia Motherway and husband Ger also attended, along with his father-in-law Seamus Turner, Danny’s wife Claire and Seamus’s fiance Laura Keaveney.
Dan said that for him retirement means retirement and he is planning to enjoy his time away from work with a few holidays already planned this year and his son Seamus’s wedding in August.
‘I enjoyed my time in the force. I would hope that I gave service to the people of Wexford and afforded them respect in the execution of my duty’, He thanked Eithne, who retired from nursing management in 2013, saying she supported him throughout his career and ‘made lots of things possible’.