Private memorial to mark 10 years since Garda McCabe killing

Former colleagues of Det Garda Jerry McCabe will gather in Limerick today for a private memorial to mark the 10th anniversary…

Former colleagues of Det Garda Jerry McCabe will gather in Limerick today for a private memorial to mark the 10th anniversary of his killing by an IRA gang.

A handful of officers are to come together in a short prayer service in Henry Street station where he served, and lay flowers at a bust which was erected in his memory in 1999.

Garda McCabe was shot dead on June 7th, 1996, in Adare, Co Limerick, during an attempted IRA raid on a post office van in the town.

He was the 29th garda to be killed since the foundation of the State.

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The killing sparked outrage, with over 40,000 people turning up to his funeral to pay their respects.

No member of the Garda Síochána died between 1942 and 1970 but since then 14 officers have been killed.

A spokesman for the Garda Representative Association (GRA) warned the issue of poor resources had yet to be addressed.

"Ten years after the killing, still nothing has moved on in relation to protection for gardaí," he said.

Garda McCabe was gunned down in an unmarked patrol car as he and his colleague Garda Ben O'Sullivan, who was seriously wounded, escorted a post office delivery van through Adare.

Up to 15 rifle rounds were pumped into their car during the IRA ambush.

Four Limerick men, some of whom Garda McCabe knew, Kevin Walsh, Pearse McCauley, Jeremiah Sheehy and Michael O'Neill, were jailed for the killing.

They are due for release on dates ranging from May next year to August 2009. - (PA)