Garda killed in credit union robbery

A detective garda was shot and killed last night during an armed raid on a credit union in Dundalk, Co Louth.

A number of shots were fired after four armed raiders pounced shortly after 9.30pm as cash was being ferried from a security van to Lordship Credit Union in Bellurgan, Jenkinstown.

The garda, who was married with three children, was in his late 30s. He was based at Dundalk Garda Station and was one of two garda members on escort duty.

He was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.

Gardaí are now hunting for four men in a dark coloured Volkswagen Passat which fled the scene in a northern direction.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland has been informed of the shooting and put on alert for the raiders’ car. Gardaí are now trying to establish if subversives, dissidents, or members of a criminal gang were responsible for the raid.

Gardaí are appealing for witnesses to the shooting to contact Dundalk Garda Station at 042 9388 400 or to phone the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.

Messages of condolence streamed in last night.

Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan offered his condolences to the detective’s family and is due to travel to Dundalk.

Local councillor Jim Loughran knew the detective and described him as a quiet, decent family man.

“I just spoke to him last week on the street in town. I can’t believe this has happened,” said Mr Loughran.

The Sinn Féin councillor condemned those responsible for the shooting, saying they had devastated a small, tight-knit community.

“This was not just an attack on a Garda detective, it was an attack on the whole community,” he said.

In an online tweet, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said: “Awful news coming out of Cooley tonight. Thoughts and prayers are with the Garda’s family and colleagues.”

It is understood the detective lived in the Lordship area, around 1km from the credit union where he was killed.

He was a member of local GAA club St Patrick’s and was involved with training young players.

The shooting indicates a growing willingness by armed raiders to use lethal force against gardaí.

Last night’s killing follows a similar raid on a credit union in Dublin in November. In that incident, armed raiders shot at a garda who was on mountain bike patrol before hijacking a car to escape. Fortunately, the garda was not injured.

The two raiders had targeted the credit union in Portmarnock, Co Dublin.

After terrorising staff, the men were confronted by the garda and fled. They fired shots, hijacked a car, and escaped with cash taken from the heist.

In August, the Garda Representative Association, which represents rank-and-file gardaí, expressed concern at the growing number of their members being injured in the line of duty.

The GRA said that approximately 800 gardaí are assaulted each year, an increase of 450 from 2005.