Tributes to 'kind-hearted' former garda killed in Cork road crash

Tributes have been paid to the “kind-hearted” former garda who died on Thursday morning following a car crash in east Cork.

PJ Byrne, a caretaker at Cork College of Commerce, passed away after the car he was driving was in a collision with a truck outside Midleton.

Emergency services attended the scene on the main Midleton to Whitegate road at around 7.15am yesterday.

Mr Byrne was pronounced dead at the scene and his body was removed to Cork University Hospital where a postmortem is to take place.

Gardaí closed the road and diverted traffic to facilitate an examination of the scene by forensic collision investigators.

Cork College of Commerce posted a tribute on its Facebook page following the fatal crash in which it described Mr Byrne as “part of our family”.

“It is with a very heavy heart that we report this morning how shell shocked and sad we are as a college community to discover that one of our caretakers PJ Byrne was tragically killed in a car accident on his way to work. May he Rest In Peace,” it said.

The college added that Mr Byrne “was so proud of his children and grandchildren”.

“We are heartbroken for them all,” they said.

Past and present student of the College of Commerce posted their own tributes to the Facebook page.

“As a former student at the Cork College of Commerce, I saw PJ nearly every day. He was a great laugh and will be missed by all who knew him,” one said.

“Such a shock, may you rest in peace PJ, I will miss you my friend, a gentleman of a colleague, always obliging and was great for the craic,” said another.

“PJ was a different kind of kind, he was always smiling, always making others laugh even on days you don’t want to, he was always so welcoming and always made sure everyone was okay,” another tribute read.