Literally thousands of gardai lined the main street in Blackrock, County Louth today to say farewell to their slain colleague, Tony Golden.
The Mayo native was living in the small seaside resort for the last 10 years with his wife and three children – all of whom are aged under 8 years old.
The unfortunate garda was shot and killed when he attended a domestic dispute in his stationed village of Omeath at the weekend.
The garda, aged 36 and the shooter aged 24 both died. A third person, the partner of the shooter is in critical condition in hospital in Dublin.
Today, thousands of gardai lined the streets after attending a packed Church in the village. Father Michael Keenan expressed his sorrow at such a terrible tragedy and said that God will help Tony’s family and friends in this terribly sad time.
The garda was laid to rest after miles of a procession through the streets before gardai, politicians and civilians.
All local businesses closed their doors for the funeral and procession.