Gardaí to hold memorial for Jerry McCabe
Former colleagues of detective garda Jerry McCabe were gathering in Limerick tomorrow for a private memorial to mark the 10th anniversary of his brutal killing by an IRA gang.
A handful of officers will come together in a short prayer service in Henry St station where he served and lay flowers at a bust erected in his memory.
Garda McCabe was shot dead on June 7, 1996, in Adare, Co Limerick during an attempted IRA raid on a post office van in the town.
He was the 29th garda to be killed since the foundation of the state.
The killing sparked outrage across the country with more than 40,000 people turning up to his funeral to pay their respects.
A bust was erected at Henry St station in Garda McCabe’s memory in 1999 and a small band of officers who knew him will hold a short service as they mark the anniversary privately.
No member of An Garda Síochana died between 1942 and 1970 but since then, 14 officers have been killed.
A spokesman for the Garda Representative Association warned the issue of poor resources had yet to be addressed.
“Ten years after the killing still nothing has moved on in relation to protection for gardaí,” the spokesman said.
Garda McCabe was gunned down in an unmarked patrol car as he and his colleague Garda Ben O'Sullivan, who was seriously wounded, escorted a post office delivery van through Adare.
Up to 15 rifle rounds were pumped into their car during the IRA ambush.
Four Limerick IRA men – some of whom Garda McCabe knew – Kevin Walsh, Pearse McCauley, Jeremiah Sheehy and Michael O’Neill were jailed for the killing.
Walsh, who was believed to have fired the fatal shots, and McCauley were each sentenced to 14 years for manslaughter while Sheehy was given a 12-year jail term and O’Neill 11 years.
They are due for release on dates ranging from May next year to August 2009.
The state accepted their guilty pleas to manslaughter after prosecution witnesses withdrew crucial evidence.
Initially, the killing was denounced by the Sinn Féin leadership before they embarked on months of lobbying for the early release of the four-man gang under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.
Their efforts were eventually stymied by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern who ruled out any possibility of the controversial move.
A book chronicling the garda’s life and death is due to be published later this year. Authorised by the officer’s wife, Ann, it looks at the repercussions of the shooting focusing on the public reaction.
