Gardai pay their respects to a fallen hero
HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE HAVE SIGNED A BOOK OF CONDOLENCE FOR DETECTIVE GARDA COLM HORKAN WHICH IS OPEN AT WEXFORD GARDA STATION
Hundreds of people have signed a Book of Condolence at Wexford Garda Station for Detective Garda Colm Horkan who was tragically killed in the line of duty in Castlerea, County Roscommon last week.
Members of the public also joined with serving and retired members of An Garda Siochána, Garda Station staff and public representatives to observe a minute’s silence at a ceremony outside the Garda Station at midday on Sunday, coinciding with the funeral of Detective Garda Horkan in his home town of Charlestown, County Mayo. The Irish Flag flew at half mast.
Prayers were said by Fr. James Cullen during the solemn and emotional event which was attended by the Minister of State at the Department of Defence, Paul Kehoe; Independent TD Verona Murphy and the Mayor of Wexford, Cllr. George Lawlor. The gardai were joined by uniformed members of the Civil Defence and the Red Cross.
Garda Superintendent Jim
Doyle addressed the family members of serving gardai present, saying you are the ones left at home when gardai go out to work, and you expect them to return home but sadly on this occasion, Detective Garda Horkan did not return home to his family.
In gathering to remember Garda Horkan, it was also an occasion to remember Detective
Garda Seamus Quaid who was murdered in the line of duty in Wexford 40 years ago.
Superintendent Doyle said a ceremony will be held at Wexford Garda Station in the coming weeks to mark the 40th anniversary of Detective Garda Quaid’s death, when a tree will be planted and a commemmorative plaque unveiled.
Garda Quaid’s detective partner on that tragic night in 1980, Donal Lyttleton, now retired, attended Sunday’s ceremony for Garda Horkan.
The Superintendent read out a poem written about Detective Garda Horkan’s career as a Garda and his sporting and family life in which he was described as ‘the most gallant of Gardai, the most decent of men’, who ‘ will never walk his old beat again.’
The Wexford event and other similar events around the country were recorded by a drone camera, with all the videos due to be edited into
a commemmorative film for the Horkan family, as gardai around the country were unable to attend the State funeral due to a Covid-19 limitation on the number of mourners.
The Wexford Book of Condolence was officially opened last Friday in the presence of Superintendent Doyle, the Mayor of Wexford Cllr. Lawlor, Brendan Howlin TD, Inspector Graham Rowley and Sergeant Denis Murphy. The Mayor extended the condolences of the people of Wexford to the family and colleagues of Detective Garda Horkan on his tragic death.
‘We,in Wexford, know all too well the impact that the violent loss of life of a member of an Garda Síochána has on the family and the community.
‘This year marks the 40th anniversary of the killing of Detective Garda Seamus Quaid and it still has an effect on the people of Wexford. It has never been forgotten and never will’, he said.