A son of IRA murder victim, Detective Garda Jerry McCabe, said the family continue to live the “torture” of his killing by an IRA gang thirty years ago this week.
Detective Garda McCabe’s family, friends, neighbours and Garda colleagues will gather together to remember him collectively at a mass to be held in his adopted Limerick, this coming Sunday, June 7th, the anniversary of his fatal shooting.
The 53-year old Kerry native, who lived and served in the Limerick Garda Division, was gunned down by a PIRA gang during a botched robbery of a post office van carrying cash.
Det Garda McCabe and his colleague, Mallow native, Det Garda Ben O’Sullivan, were providing an armed escort for the mail van when it was intercepted by the gang at Main Street, Adare, on June 7th, 1996.
Det Garda McCabe was killed instantly when the gang opened fire with automatic firearms on their Garda car. Det Garda O’Sullivan, who survived despite being shot 11 times when 15 rounds were fired by the gang, died four years ago, aged 78.
The two dedicated crime fighters, who had laid their lives on the line in protecting and serving the public, received bravery medals from Garda Headquarters, Det McCabe receiving his posthumously.
Speaking ahead of the 30th anniversary of his father’s murder, Det McCabe’s son John McCabe, said: “It’s hard to believe it’s thirty years, it’s like it was yesterday.”
“A lot of Dad’s workmates from that era have actually passed away. It’s been a form of torture for a long time, with publicity about the prisoners, but that’s ancient history now, done and dusted.”
Four members of the gang, Kevin Walsh, Michael O’Neill, both from Patrickswell, and Jeremiah Sheehy, from Rathkeale, and Pearse McAuley, Strabane (now deceased), were initially charged with the murder of Det Garda McCabe and the attempted murder of Det Garda Ben O’Sullivan.
Manslaughter pleas offered by the four were accepted by the State after alleged IRA intimidation of key prosecution witnesses.
The gang members had their terms reduced for good behaviour while behind bars.
A fifth man, John Quinn, from Faha, Patrickswell, was jailed for six years for conspiracy to commit robbery of the post van that the two Special Branch detectives had been protecting when they were ambushed, but he was not present in Adare on the day.
“There is an anniversary mass being held at 11.30am at the Holy Rosary church, Ennis Road, on Sunday, it won’t be a formal thing like previous anniversaries,” added Mr McCabe, who followed his father’s footsteps into the force, and is a serving Garda Sergeant based at Shannon, Co Clare.
Local Garda management are expected to attend the mass in a show of solidarity with the McCabe and O’Sullivan families.
John McCabe said: “Dad had planned to retire that year, in September, he was 53. I’m 57 now, I’ve nearly 33 years done in the guards. He was take before his time.”
“We appreciate all the support and well wishes; that goes without saying. A lot of guards have been killed since Dad, so it’s not just our family that goes through this terrible loss,” he added.
Previous anniversaries of the shocking killing have been marked with official ceremonies including members of the Garda Band, and speeches given by Garda Commissioners.
Next Sunday’s anniversary mass, however, will be more sombre, a time for the victim’s loved ones, neighbours, friends and garda colleagues to reflect and remember without ceremony or pomp.
Fr Des McAuliffe, Parish Priest, Holy Rosary, Ennis Road, said: “We will hold a mass on Sunday to remember Detective McCabe. My, and all the communities, thoughts and prayers are with his family at this difficult time.”
Speaking on the 25th anniversary of her husband’s killing, Ann McCabe called on Garda Headquarters to redouble their efforts in bringing two fugitive members of the gang that took her husband’s life to justice.
Ann McCabe said “evil men” were behind her husband’s assassination and she said she hoped, one day, to be able to “eyeball” the two last members of the gang in a court.
“Hopefully I will be around if they are brought back, it is my wish that they be brought back, and I will be there to eyeball them, one hundred per cent,” said Ms McCabe.
“They need to face justice for what they have done. There was widespread intimidation of witnesses (at the trial) and that’s where the manslaughter pleas came from, but, you don’t walk up to a car and fire indiscriminately into it and not think you are going to murder somebody.”
Family friend, and well-known Limerick artist, Una Heaton, then said: “It’s very raw, and the two guys who are still wanted for the murder are still free, and I just wonder who long does it take to get these guys back into the country – it’s 25 years, is there something wrong?”
“Ann is very upset about it the whole time, about why those two guys are on the run this whole time.”
Speaking in Adare on the 25th anniversary commemoration, then Commissioner Drew Harris, now retired, said: “This does remain an active investigation, and it is subject to three-monthly reviews so it isn’t in any way forgotten about.”
“At all times we wish to pursue further avenues, and lines of enquiry, and perhaps the public can help us in that, because there are two fugitives who would have been well known in this area who have now moved elsewhere, they are not within our jurisdiction, they are not within our grasp.”
“But we do believe people here in the locality or in Limerick may have information that could be of great assistance to us in locating those individuals,” Harris added.
Ann McCabe and her brother-in-law Pat Kearney met with the present Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly and Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan, at the annual Garda Memorial Day at Dublin Castle on May 16th last.
The event commemorated a total of 90 members of An Garda Siochana, including Det Garda McCabe, who have died in the line of duty.
Sinn Féin had previously and unsuccessfully sought to have Det McCabe’s four convicted killers released early under the terms of the Belfast Agreement, after the party insisted they qualified as IRA prisoners.
Former Kerry Sinn Féin TD Martin Ferris collected Walsh and Strabane native Pearse McAuley, also jailed for Det Garda McCabe’s manslaughter, upon their release from Castlerea Prison on August 5th, 2009.
Walsh was regarded as one of the most senior IRA figures in Munster. In the years since his release Walsh has maintained a low profile having settled in the Kildimo area, informed sources said.
McAuley had been on the run from Brixton Prison in the UK when he participated in the Adare killing.
In 2003, McAuley was temporarily allowed out of prison to marry Pauline Tully, a school teacher from Cavan who later became a Sinn Féin TD.
In 2015 McAuley was given a 12-year sentence with the final four years suspended for a sustained and savage attack with a steak knife on Ms Tully.
O’Neill subsequently moved to Ennis, Co Clare, after his release from jail. He was attacked at his home by two masked men armed with a machete in September 2014. O’Neill, who had been sleeping in the house at the time, was struck on the head with an implement, windows were smashed, and two cars at the address were also damaged.
In May 2014, O’Neill was before Ennis District Court charged with the production of a wheel brace during the course of a dispute at his home in January 2013, and with engaging in threatening and abusive behaviour. The case was later dismissed after problems arose with how the charges were compiled.
Quinn has also kept a low profile since his release from prison in July 2003. He eventually served three-quarters of a six-year term for conspiracy to rob the post office van.
Later on, Quinn and O’Neill lost High Court actions, claiming they should have been immediately released from jail as political prisoners under the terms of the Belfast Agreement.
Two further suspected members of the IRA gang are still at large but living abroad. One, from Cobh, Co Cork, is believed to be resident in South America, and the other, from Dún Laoghaire, who moved to Shannon, later fled to Holland and onto to Spain, informed sources said.
Garda sources claim one of the suspects has travelled back to Ireland a number of times without being arrested.
According to another source, one of the men was living in Managua, Nicaragua, where he was married and running a business
