Unassuming heroes get deserved spotlight at glittering Garda event

Jean Lahiffe, wife of the late Detective Garda Morgan Lahiffe and his daughter Avril, hold his picture and a Bronze Scott Medal awarded posthumously. Picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Scott awards are a rare example of pomp and circumstance on the part of An Garda Síochána.

While the recipients of the award are more than deserving of the somewhat ostentatious ceremony — replete with lead-in and play-out musical fanfares reminiscent of a Hollywood extravaganza — as it is held to commemorate their heroic actions, one senses that those brave souls are not quite so comfortable with the perhaps overwhelming nature of the limelight.