TEARS FOR MY SON, A HERO GARDA
THE father of Detective
Garda Colm Horkan broke down in tears yesterday as he told the Irish Mail on Sunday that his son was a ‘proper gentleman’.
‘He was a lovely fella, absolutely, a proper gentleman he was. He was my son,’ Marty Horkan said following the unveiling of two memorial plaques in Castlerea to mark the first anniversary of the hero garda’s violent death.
The grieving father told how he feels his son’s death ‘woke a lot of people up to the work the gardaí do’.
‘It [today] was very difficult. They paid a lovely tribute to him here. Barry O’Brien [assistant commissioner] who spoke here today, he came to the house for two hours yesterday, and the banter we had with Barry for two hours talking about Colm.’
Mr Horkan told how the community rallied around him following his son’s death. ‘The amount of Mass bouquets, thousands of them from every county in Ireland. If anyone should be in heaven he should.’
Speaking of the night his son was killed on June 17, 2020, he said people came from far and wide to comfort him and his family.
‘The night he got shot, my son’s partner is a garda in Ballaghaderreen and they got the word that he was shot…
They came back to the house and by 3am our house was packed with people – the word went round everywhere and they were coming to the house.’
Det. Horkan, 49, was shot dead while on duty in Castlerea. The memorial ceremony yesterday was led by his family alongside Commissioner Drew Harris and Minister of State James Browne.