Dáil debates

Wednesday, 24 June 2020

Death of Garda Colm Horkan: Expressions of Sympathy

 

9:50 am

Photo of Catherine MurphyCatherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

On my own behalf and that of the Social Democrats, I want to express our sympathy with the family and friends of Detective Garda Colm Horkan and with his colleagues in An Garda Síochána. The reports of his life and work tell us something about the man that has resonated with everyone. From the reports, we can see that Detective Garda Horkan was a very dedicated member of the force and was very dedicated to his work. It was not just a job. Some professions have a vocational nature to them and that was very much how he lived his profession. Our streets and our community are the workplace of An Garda Síochána and were the workplace of Detective Garda Horkan. We cannot take that aspect of An Garda Síochána for granted. It is a very dangerous job and not many of us would want our brothers, sisters, son or daughter to put themselves in that kind of place of risk. However, we have a responsibility in this House, and I have talked to members of An Garda Síochána over the years who worry about, for example, having to respond to an incident on their own. We have to pay attention to making sure that the job is done in the safest way possible. That is an aspect we need to be considering very carefully.

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