Garda Donohoe was gunned down by armed raiders outside a Credit Union building in County Louth. He received a state funeral where many thousands turned out to pay their respects.
Garda Donohoe is the first member of an Garda Siochana to be shot dead while on duty since the killing of Garda Jerry McCabe in 1996. Earlier in 1986, close to where Garda Donohoe lost his life, Garda Sergeant Patrick Morrisey was 'executed' as he lay wounded on the ground following an armed raid in Ardee, County Louth. Two men convicted of that murder were sentenced to death but their sentences were commuted to life imprisonment with a minimum tariff of forty years imposed.
Many Gardai have died in shooting incidents involving people linked to political violence in the North. Noel and Marie Murray were convicted of the 1975 murder of Garda Michael Reynolds who tried to apprehend them after an armed robbery.
At a time when great sadness and also revulsion was being felt by the family and friends of Garda Donahue, who decides to add insult to the family for his own self gain but the sitting TD for Co Louth, this was once again another of his self preservation speeches
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