Garda assaulted and doused in petrol in Cavan to be discharged from hospital

The garda, who has been stationed in Blacklion, Co Cavan, for the past three years, was travelling back to his station from the district headquarters in Cavan town when he was attacked at about 2am on Monday morning. File picture: Dan Linehan

The garda who was assaulted and doused in petrol in Cavan will be discharged from hospital shortly, as his colleagues appeal to anyone with information about the attack to come forward.

The garda, who has been stationed in Blacklion, Co Cavan, for the past three years, was travelling back to his station from the district headquarters in Cavan town when he was attacked at about 2am on Monday morning. The motive for the assault remains unknown.

Chief Superintendent Alan McGovern said: “We will speak to him once he has made a recovery. Like all victims, he has to be given time to recover. The priority now is his wellbeing and to make sure that he is okay. Once he is released from hospital, we will progress matters further and hope to interview him.” 

The garda is from Roscommon and is known in GAA and soccer circles. He has been a garda for six years.

Chief Supt McGovern said there was as yet no indication as to what was behind the horror attack.

He added: 

It is not something you would expect in rural Ireland.” 

And he said: “We would appeal to anyone who has any information to come forward — if anybody knows something.” 

The garda suffered a concussion in the attack and cannot remember what happened.

One focus of the investigation is whether he came across something which aroused his suspicion just before being attacked by at least two men.

Chief Supt McGovern said: “It is something we will have to tease out and try to find out if he came on something or what happened. There wasn’t an operation in place or anything like that so he may have come on them unwittingly.” 

He added: “We can’t rule anything in or out.” 

The injured garda managed to make contact with colleagues for assistance but could not explain what happened to him when gardaí arrived at the scene.

Teams of gardaí have conducted searches of the area, while others conducted door-to-door inquiries. While there is no CCTV footage available from the scene itself, near Loughan House open prison, gardaí have harvested footage from local premises.

And Chief Supt McGovern appealed to any local homeowners who had private CCTV systems on their properties to contact gardaí.

He said gardaí would now be working on different strands of evidence gathered in a bid to find the attackers.

The Garda Representative Association says the incident shows the dangers members of the force face when going out on patrol, particularly gardaí who have to work alone. The association wants measures in place which would enhance the safety of officers working on their own.

Gardaí also want to speak to any one driving on the N16, Cavan, passing Loughan House Prison, or the R206 and R207 at their junction with the N16, between 7pm on Sunday February 27 and 3am on Monday February 28, and in particular any person with video footage (dash cam or other format) to contact investigating gardaí.

Gardaí are appealing for any one with any information on this incident to contact Cavan Garda Station at 049 436 8800, the Garda Confidential Line, 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.