SF urged to name Adare raid IRA officer

The Progressive Democrats have called on Sinn Féin to name the IRA officer who sanctioned the armed raid that resulted in the killing of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe ten years ago.

Garda McCabe was killed on June 7th, 1996, during an IRA raid on a post office van in Adare, Co Limerick.

Ann McCabe, the widow of Garda Jerry McCabe,

A memorial mass will be held on Saturday, June 10th, at the Holy Rosary Church in Caherdavin, Co Limerick.

Speaking last night, Senator John Minihan said Sinn Féin's disregard for institutions of the State and its servants had been exposed and called on the party's president Gerry Adams to identify the officer who gave the orders.

He added that Mr Adams, having first denied any IRA involvement, went on to state that the killing of Jerry McCabe was wrong and that it had been sanctioned at a low level by a so-called "authorised" person.

"If Mr Adams believes the killing was wrong he has an obligation to name that 'authorised officer'," the senator said.

Senator Minihan, a PD general election candidate in Cork South Central, added that he could not accept the claims of Kerry North TD Martin Ferris of Sinn Féin that he was entirely ignorant of the circumstances of the killing.

"The Irish people deserve better and it saddens me that some are willing to put up with this two-fingered salute from the double act of Adams and Ferris."

"Jerry died to protect this peaceful society. And this peace must be defended by all right-thinking people."

Up to 15 shots were fired into Det Garda McCabe's car during the IRA ambush in which his colleague Ben O'Sullivan was seriously wounded.

Four Limerick IRA members - some of whom were known to Garda McCabe - Kevin Walsh, Pearse McCauley, Jeremiah Sheehy and Michael O'Neill were jailed for the killing.

Walsh and McCauley were sentenced to 14 years for manslaughter while Sheehy was given a 12-year jail term and O'Neill 11 years. They are due for release on dates ranging from May next year to August 2009.

Sinn Féin had called for the four men jailed for the incident to be released under the Belfast Agreement.

A spokesman for the Garda Representative Association (GRA) has warned that, despite the elapsed time, the issue of poor resources for gardaí  had yet to be addressed. "Ten years after the killing still nothing has moved on in relation to protection for gardaí," the spokesman said.