A FORMER au pair from Romania was named yesterday as the Garda’s best all-round student.
Ofelia Hough (31), who came to Ireland to work as an au pair 11 years ago, was awarded the Gary Sheehan Memorial Medal at a ceremony at Templemore.
The medal commemorates the young recruit who was shot dead by the IRA in Ballinamore, Co Leitrim, in 1983 during the rescue of kidnapped businessman Don Tidey.
Garda Hough worked with the Romania Tourist Board and the Transilvania Expres newspaper before coming to Ireland. She was studying arts in NUI Galway when she decided that joining the Garda sounded like a great opportunity. “And it proved to be one,” she said.
She speaks five languages and has represented An Garda Síochána abroad. Her husband Liam Hough and her family from Romania cheered her loudly when she received the accolade.“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be here today,” Garda Hough said. “I’m thrilled. I’m so proud to be here.” She is based at Henry Street in Limerick.
Two of the three medals for top Garda students this year were won by recruits who came here from abroad.
The second such winner was Scott Kahler from Long Island, New York, who served with the New York State Police and is stationed in Mullingar. He won the Templemore Town Council Medal for his appreciation of the social role played by gardaí.
The Commissioner’s Medal – for the student with the highest academic marks – was awarded to a Dubliner, Garda Kirsten Somers.There were 185 male and 78 female recruits, including three from China.