Hi °C | Lo °C The killers of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe have ruined the lives of his family, according to the priest who conducted the funeral Mass of the slain father of two.
Fr Michael Cusack said it is too early to start talking about forgiveness for those responsible for gunning down the distinguished officer.
And he said upbringing or possible involvement in drugs was no excuse. "Badness is responsible," he said.
The Dundalk priest gave a powerful sermon at Det Gda Donohoe's funeral at the end of January, describing his killing as the "perfect image of evil".
He also called for reflection on the need for a greater police presence around the country at a time when more than 100 garda stations have been closed.
Just over three weeks after the officer's brutal killing, he said the perpetrators "have destroyed the life not just of Adrian but the full community".
In an interview on Marian Finucane's RTE Radio show, he added that the killers had "ruined Caroline's life, ruined the lives of his children, ruined his parents' lives".
He said that Mrs Donohoe, a member of the gardai herself – had spoken to him before the show to say that "there was nothing that could bring Adrian back" but that the "solidarity and good wishes" of the national response to her husband's death was "a great help".
"I certainly feel Caroline's pain," said Fr Cusack. "And to look at her two children, look at his grieving parents and see what they have been robbed of, never to get it back ... "
His comments come as gardai tighten the net around those suspected of carrying out the shooting of Det Gda Donohoe.
Gardai have pursued more than 1,200 lines of inquiry, taken almost 400 statements and are reviewing around 140 pieces of CCTV footage.
Senior investigators have said the case against the killers is being meticulously built before arrests are made.
They believe a cross-border gang was responsible for the shooting that occurred during a botched robbery on a Co Louth Credit Union.
Forgiveness
Fr Cusack said that among hundreds of letters he had received, just one had criticised him for not calling for forgiveness for the killers at the funeral attended by thousands of gardai.
And he said of Det Gda Donohoe's month's mind Mass next weekend: "We won't be talking about forgiveness there either."
He said: "I know whoever did this is a son or a daughter of another family and probably with good parents.
"But we don't all go out mowing down people. We don't all take those choices."
Irish Independent
