Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Today I know I speak for everybody in this country and in this House because today our nation speaks as one. We speak of a man murdered in the service of his community and his country. We speak of a precious husband taken from his wife, of an adored father taken from his children. We speak of a dearly loved son reared by his mother and father to be courageous, upright and honest. They reared him to be loyal to his community, his people and his country.

Today we pay tribute to this good man who went out to work as normal on Friday but never came home. I assure everyone present, the members of his family and people throughout the country that we will do everything possible to bring those who murdered Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe to justice. We cannot and will not rest until we have done so.

It is inescapable that the idea behind An Garda Síochána, the members of which protect the peace, is the antithesis of what inspired those who set out to commit robbery last Friday night. Ultimately, what they stole was a human life. In doing so, they also stole a family's happiness and its dreams. They stole the future the members of that family imagined living together and all that would have happened to them. Adrian Donohoe's murder was not just an attack on the Garda, it was also an attack on the people and society. It is equally an attack on what binds us as a people and a nation, that is, our empathy and compassion. The people have expressed their revulsion at this murder and rallied behind the Garda. I remember well the murders of Garda Henry Byrne and Garda John Morley in 1980 and Detective Garda Jerry McCabe in 1996. The country felt the same sense of revulsion then as it does now.

I assure the family of Adrian Donohoe and the people that those who committed this barbarous act of cowardice will face the full rigour of the law. The penalty for those found guilty of killing a member of An Garda Síochána is a minimum mandatory sentence of 40 years imprisonment on conviction, which the individuals who committed this crime will serve. The Garda Commissioner has made it clear that the force will use every resource available to apprehend these murderers. In its efforts in this regard, it has the full support of the Government, the entire House and the people.

It is important to acknowledge the service members of An Garda Síochána provide, on our behalf, every day. That service may often be taken for granted. Without the willingness and courage of gardaí to protect communities, violence and disorder would certainly prevail over the rights and well-being of law-abiding people. This was the service Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe was providing for his community when his life was so cruelly taken away. The law and authority of the State must and will not be challenged by the manner in which Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe was murdered. May he rest in peace. To his family, I extend our deepest sympathy. This is a loss from which they will never recover. Go ndéana Dia trócaire ar an anam cróga dílis.

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