We will find killers
A massive operation is being put in place which Garda bosses say will be the biggest shakedown on organised crime since the sprawling investigation into the murder of Veronica Guerin in 1996.
Gardaí said there was “no doubt” the gang knew Garda Donohoe was a police officer when they shot him in the head without warning as he got out of his unmarked car on Friday night.
The gang held his partner, Detective Garda Joe Ryan at gunpoint, and threatened to shoot him, as they robbed the Lordship Credit Union at Bellurgan, near Dundalk, getting away with just €4,000.
Senior officers suspect either a dissident republican gang or a criminal outfit, possibly operating on both sides of the border, were behind the atrocity. A co-ordinated investigation is under way with the PSNI, who were last night investigating the remains of a burnt-out car found in south Antrim.
“We will turn every rock over and shake out every criminal organisation. They won’t like that,” a senior garda said last night. “We saw with the Gilligan gang [in the Veronica Guerin murder investigation] some members were not willing to go down. When these guys are caught — and they will be caught — they will get 40 years. That might focus their minds.”
The senior garda said a wide range of people were involved in various aspects of the robbery: “They didn’t do it on their own. Someone procured the car, another disposed of it, someone supplied the gun, someone else secured it after. Another provided a safe house. All these people might have as well pulled the trigger. When they see what has happened, they might think of self-preservation.”
The wide-ranging investigation set up in the wake of Ms Guerin’s murder in Jun 1996 dragged in members of every drug and crime gang in most of the State and halted much of the drug trade.
As a result, some members of the gang entered the Witness Protection Programme and convictions were secured.
It emerged yesterday that the same credit union was hit a year and a half ago by criminals brandishing shotguns. They robbed the credit union before the garda escort had arrived and escaped with €62,000. Gardaí are investigating if the same outfit was involved.
Detectives have an open mind as to whether dissident republicans or criminal gangs were involved. Some sources suspect that the “level of mindless violence” could point to dissident republicans.
Gardaí are gathering CCTV from the area. They are trying to locate known criminals and draw up a list of any who have disappeared.
The funeral mass for Garda Donohoe, a 41-year-old married father of two, will take place on Wednesday. His wife, Caroline, also a garda stationed at Dundalk Station, and their children Niall and Amy, are being supported by family, friends, and colleagues.
Garda Robbie Peelo of Dundalk Station said: “Most of his colleagues are just on auto-pilot at the moment. The feeling in the station is just one of devastation.”
Willie Gleeson, president of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, conveyed his condolences to the family.
“This is a cold, cowardly and callous act by thugs with no value for life, law and order or the custodians of that law and order.”
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