THOUSANDS of gardaí will pay a final emotional tribute to murdered colleague Tony Golden at a state funeral in Co Louth.
The father-of-three was shot dead by dissident republican Adrian Crevan Mackin (25) at a house in Omeath on Sunday while escorting his ex-partner Siobhan Phillips home to collect belongings after a complaint of domestic abuse.
Ms Phillips, a mother-of-two, in a critical condition at Dublin’s Beaumont Hospital after the Co Down man shot her in the head with a Glock handgun.
The gunman, who had been awaiting trial in the Republic for IRA membership and had a previous conviction in the north for possessing "extreme pornography", then turned the weapon on himself and died at the scene.
Garda Golden (36) will repose at the Blackrock home he shared with his wife Nicola and three young children from 3pm until 7pm today, before being taken to the local St Oliver Plunkett Church for noon Mass tomorrow.
Huge numbers of rank-and-file gardaí from all over the Republic will attend the funeral alongside senior members of the force and government ministers. The PSNI will also be represented.
Garda Golden’s murder has sparked demands for the number of gardaí assigned to stations along the border to be increased.
The call was made yesterday as a prayer service, which was attended by Garda Commissioner Noirín O’Sullivan, took place in Dundalk Garda Station for the murder victim’s colleagues.
Redemptorist priest Fr Michael Cusack said Garda manpower shortages in the region had to be addressed.
“The group that are looking after the border are still finding themselves having to go out on their own… having to do a lot of tasks on their own. They do them willingly but I wonder should they be doing them alone. One life gone is one life too many,” he said.
Fr Cusack’s call was echoed by Pat Kearney, a former Garda and the brother-in-law of murdered Limerick detective Jerry McCabe, who said morale in the force was “at rock bottom”.
Meanwhile, Taoiseach Enda Kenny led tributes to Garda Golden in the Dáil, saying the Co Mayo native had shown “a passion for public service” but had been “cruelly taken from this life while carrying out his public duty”.
“That passion and public duty that will forever counter the capacity for casual destruction,” Mr Kenny said.
Tánaiste Joan Burton praised the “bravery of a young guard” who had “laid down his life carrying out his duty".
“His death is a reminder of the dangers that the men and women of An Garda Síochána encounter every day on our behalf."
