Poetic Justice?

These things create division and can pit the public against the police who are meant to protect them. No police force anywhere is perfect or totally free of some bad eggs and each services has its own challenges. But as the shooting death of Detective Garda Colm Horkan in Castlerea, Co. Roscommon in June demonstrates, this does not mean police cannot rely on the support and respect of communities and the society they serve. That is clear from the outpouring of grief by the whole country for the 44-year-old officer who was killed in the line of duty. The whole country responded. Just before the funeral started, the peace bell at Áras an Uachtaráin (the Irish president’s residence) was rung by Sergeant Sinead Riley, Sergeant-in-Charge to mark the start of a minutes silence for the fallen officer. At that time around Ireland thousands of people gathered outside local Garda stations with local gardai to pay their respects for that moment of reflect. Hundreds of gardai formed a guard of honour for him, but so too did dozens of GAA players and thousands more in his hometown of Charlestown, Co. Mayo at his state funeral. Because of Coronavirus social distancing restrictions, the numbers able to attend the funeral mass in St. James’ Church were limited, but hundreds assembled in the playing field of the local GAA club where Colm had played for much of his life. The national broadcaster broadcast the funeral live on TV while Radio Mid West also transmitted it, while every major media outlet in Ireland also covered it in detail. The Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Irish Defence Forces also commemorated their uniformed colleague. The national Irish police force is Garda Síochána na hÉireann - which poetically means guardians of the peace in Irish. It was one of the first functions of state established by the the Irish government and is a largely unarmed force. By and large its members come from communities where they are actively involved in the locality. Many of them come from a sporting background (GAA/ soccer/rugby) and all undergo the same training. While upholding and enforcing the law of the land, manning COVID checkpoints and chasing bad guys they also provide valuable community services. During the pandemic in Ireland, people who needed help with grocery shopping or getting a prescription filled for vital medicines were encouraged by the force itself to ring their local Garda station. And gardai didn’t wait around for the phone to ring either. Each division - predominately in country areas - went out and knocked on the doors of elderly and vulnerable people and delivered care packages. In Ballyshannon, Donegal local gardai took an active part in a food and social support programme that saw 16,000 dinners delivered over several months to people in need. In Mallow, Cork garda there help out and deliver ‘Meals on Wheels’ in police vehicles. In Allingham Park, Co. Donegal Gda Niamh Brennan was asked to plant a tree in memory of the lives lost during the COVID-19 crisis. These and other initiatives can help build a consensus of mutual respect between police and community.

Left: A policeman trying to rescue a cat. Bottom eft to right: Shopping for residents. Mass in Cyprus for Colm Horkan. It fell out of the back of a truck, honest!