Det Deirdre Finn: 30-year Garda veteran was a ‘bubbly’ person and ‘talented crime investigator’

The detective killed in a bank holiday weekend boat fire in Co Leitrim had served in An Garda Síochána for three decades and planned to retire from the force in the next year.

Deirdre “Dee” Finn was in her early 50s and followed her father, Pat, into a career in policing. The experienced and respected crime investigator died when her boat was engulfed by flames at Carrick-on-Shannon marina early on Monday morning.

As well as her work attached to the Dún Laoghaire Garda district, Det Finn was a well-known official in the Garda Representative Association (GRA), representing other rank and file gardaí from her division in southeast Dublin.

Garda sources who knew her through her detective work, and her long-term involvement with the GRA, spoke of a “bubbly” character who was “very well liked” in the organisation and was “committed” to her career in policing.

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[ Garda detective who died in cruiser boat fire on Shannon named as Deirdre Finn ]

She had been involved with the GRA for most of her career in the force, representing colleagues from the Dublin Metropolitan Region East for about 20 years. One colleague in the GRA said she was “one of those people who will really be missed, just a lovely woman”.

President of the GRA, Brendan O’Connor, said the force was “devastated at the loss of a colleague and friend who not only was a talented crime investigator but also served colleagues and the GRA so well” in a number of elected roles. Mr O’Connor added he had learned of Det Finn’s death “with deep sadness”.

“Dee was a very experienced and committed district and divisional rep, who also served on the standing orders committee,” he said in a message to GRA members, adding she had “lost her life in a tragic accident”.

A Dubliner, Det Finn had lived in Ballinteer and Ballycullen, both in South Dublin, and is survived by her father, Pat, and brothers Cormac and Dermot. She was predeceased by her mother, Agnes. Det Finn’s death notice said she would be “very sadly missed by her loving father, brothers, sister-in-law Jenny, nieces Abbie and Evie, nephews Kyle and Jack, uncles, aunts, cousins, relatives, her colleagues of An Garda Síochána, neighbours and a wide circle of friends both near and far”.

Det Finn’s remains are due to repose on Thursday from 4pm to 7pm at Larry Massey Funeral Home, Eden Centre, Grange Road, Rathfarnham. Her funeral service will take place on Friday at 12 noon in St John the Evangelist Church, Ballinteer, followed by burial in Kilmashogue Cemetery, Rathfarnham.

Det Finn was an experienced member of the boating community and had taken part in the Shannon Boat Rally just before her death. She was a regular visitor to the river, where she spent much of her recreation time boating.

Kay Baxter, president of the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland which promoted the rally at the weekend, said news of Det Finn’s death had resulted in “disbelief and shock”.

Ms Baxter described Det Finn as a woman with “a very big heart and a very big smile” and it was “with a heavy heart” she was paying tribute to her on the occasion of her death.

She described Det Finn as “our much loved friend and highly respected member”, adding the association’s “thoughts and prayers are with her dad, brothers, extended family, friends and colleagues at this very difficult time”.

“Deirdre was well known in our boating community – we are like one big family and we all help one another out and everybody knows everybody,” Ms Baxter added. “She made friends easily and will be very sadly missed.”

It is understood Det Finn was sleeping on the cruiser vessel in Carrick-on-Shannon when the fire broke out, the cause of which is now the subject of a Garda investigation. Initial indications suggest the fire was accidental and that foul play was not a factor.

Det Finn was on the river Shannon sailing at the weekend, and had been in the company of other women, though gardaí believe she was the only person on the cruiser when the fire was first spotted and the alarm raised just after 7am on Monday.

While a number of people saw the fire as it took hold, the flames were too strong for bystanders to intervene, though gardaí believe one man made efforts to get onto the boat to check if anyone was on board.

Early indications suggest Det Finn was sleeping when the fire broke out. Her remains were recovered from the vessel after the fire was brought under control by firefighters and removed to Sligo University Hospital Mortuary, where a postmortem was due to take place on Tuesday.

The scene was secured on Monday for examination by gardaí and the vessel that caught fire was removed from the scene for examination by the Garda Technical Bureau

During her policing career Det Finn had spent time attached to the Organised Crime Unit, mainly investigating drug dealing, and was most recently based at Dún Laoghaire and Shankill, where she was best known. She worked on a range of investigations including solving armed robberies and sexual crimes.

She was one of the lead detectives in the prosecution of members of a robbery gang whose getaway car struck a woman in South Dublin three years ago causing fatal injuries.

Jacqueline McGovern (54) died when she was one of two women struck by a car carrying three raiders as they fled from the robbery of a Centra shop on Barnhill Road, Dalkey, South Dublin, in March 2020.