Garda 'represented best in Irish society'

The funeral Mass for the young garda killed in a road crash in Co Donegal earlier this week has taken place in Co Leitrim.

Garda Gary McLoughlin (24) died on Monday from injuries sustained after the patrol car in which he and a colleague were travelling was hit by another car being pursued by other gardaí.

The incident happened at Lisfannon on the road from Letterkenny to Bridgend, Co Donegal, at approximately 1.30am on Sunday.

Garda McLoughlin’s remains were removed from his home to Foxfield Church, Keshcarrigan, Co Leitrim, at noon today and are being interred at Fenagh Graveyard near Ballinamore.

Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern, Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy and a representative of the PSNI were in attendance.

During the emotional ceremony, Fr Bernard Hogan said that Garda McLoughlin made "the ultimate sacrifice" in the service of the community.

He said he set out last Saturday evening "to serve the State, to protect the people and to protect the vulnerable" and that he was entitled to the opportunity to be able to return home safely. "But this was not to be."

The priest said Garda McLoughlin represented "what is best in Irish society - compassion , care, respect and a sense of moral duty. " He said "he served the State with his life".

Garda McLoughlin's girlfriend Shauna gave up the Christmas gift she had wrapped for him and read out a poem that he had given her. An Arsenal jersey, a model of a car, and a local GAA jersey were also presented during the Mass.

Gda Bernard McLoughlin (23) a passenger who was injured in the incident, attended the service on crutches. He is no relation to the victim.

The parish priest also remembered Garda cadet Gary Sheehan who died in a shoot-out at Derrada Woods in Ballinamore, Co Leitrim, on December 16th, 1983, 26 years ago to the day.

As many as two thousand mourners attended the memorial Mass.

Afterwards, hundreds of gardaí followed the Garda band, behind the coffin, which was draped in a tricolor with Gda McLoughlin's hat and gloves placed on top, in a slow procession to Fenagh Abbey Cemetery, two miles from the church.

Gda McLoughlin, the youngest member of a farming family, is survived by a brother, Enda, and a sister, Tracey. He had recently moved in with his girlfriend, a third-year construction technology student at Letterkenny IT whom he met two years ago.

He died in Letterkenny General Hospital 24 hours after he was taken there along with Gda Bernard McLoughlin – who sustained a broken leg - and the 24-year-old driver of the other car.

The two gardaí became involved in a search for a red Opel Astra, after it was seen driving at high speed from a filling station near Buncrana by two senior detectives in an unmarked Garda car.

The detectives, who recognised the driver as a person wanted for questioning by gardaí, followed the Opel.

They called up assistance as the Opel, heading in the direction of Letterkenny, turned off on to a series of side roads. When it reappeared on the main road it was heading towards Bridgend and Derry.

Gda Gary and Gda Bernard McLoughlin had responded to their colleagues’ alert and were driving from Bridgend in their marked patrol car when they saw the Opel speeding towards them on the wide road which has a hard shoulder on each side.

Gary McLoughlin pulled over further to his own side, on to the hard shoulder but the other vehicle careered across and crashed into the front at the driver’s side. The force of the impact was such that the Opel’s engine was ripped from its casing and thrown several metres.

The patrol car had a stinger – a device for puncturing cars – in the boot but senior gardaí said it wasn’t deployed and a situation in which it could be deployed had not arisen.

The driver of the Opel is in a stable condition in hospital.

Garda Ombudsman Commission investigators were called to make inquiries. A spokesman said they were satisfied from the evidence that the Garda could take the lead part in the investigation.