Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)

It is an occasion of great sadness to stand here and express sympathy to the family and colleagues of Garda Kevin Flatley, who lived in Balbriggan. He was 49 years old and a father of two, and our sympathy goes to his wife Una and his daughters Aoife and Erin. He was coach of the under-10 girls' team at O'Dwyers GAA club in Balbriggan, and there were huge tributes there about his positivity and the affection he was held in by people. The phrase used was that he had a great grá for the GAA. He spent 26 years working as a garda, having been part of the roads policing unit since 2018, serving as a community garda before that. Among the phrases, expressions of sympathy and remarks used after his tragic death were that he was an all-round gentleman, he was diligent, and he always completed the job perfectly. It is a cruel irony and a cruel twist of fate that he should be killed while trying to preserve our safety and that of others by controlling speed on the roads. That this should happen is a particularly brutal form of fate. There certainly needs to be a review of safety around these operations on the roads, and the Garda Commissioner said this would be the case. The deputy general secretary of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, Mr. Bolger, has called for the same.

I wish to express my sympathy to all of Garda Flatley's colleagues, to members of the GRA and its officer board, to all gardaí in the country, to the Commissioner, etc. It is a huge tragedy for our country. He was clearly a good man - a good family, GAA, club and community man, a good professional, and a patriot who was serving the people of Ireland and trying to keep us safe. It is a sad day to be doing this. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.