Garda McCallion death to be discussed at GRA meeting

Garda McCallion death to be discussed at GRA national meeting


Trevor Quinn

The death of Swinford Garda Robert McCallion two years ago will be at the forefront of Gardaí’s thoughts as the country’s largest annual Garda conference begins today (Tuesday) in Westport.
The hazardous nature of dealing with dangerous driving and joyriders will be high on the agenda as members of the Garda Representative Association (GRA) seek to ensure the safety and well-being of gardaí in an increasingly challenging environment.
Only last February, to the dismay of Garda McCallion’s family, teenager Jamie McGrenaghan (19) was found not guilty of manslaughter. The judgement was vigorously debated with Fine Gael and Labour both stating that an on-duty garda should be given a specialised status and protected by the full rigor of the law.
While the teenager was sentenced to a six-year sentence for dangerous driving causing death there was a palpable anger and disappointment from many sections of the media and the general public.
Much attention focused on Judge John O’Hagans direction to the jury to ignore the fact he was a garda during the incident which ultimately robbed the 29-year-old of his life on April 7, 2009 in Letterkenny, Co Donegal.
After the sentencing, the Garda Representative Association (GRA) released a statement which said they believed the law was unbalanced and was tipped in favour of those who chose to behave in a criminal manner.
“Garda Robbie McCallion was performing his sworn duty on behalf of the Irish people when he was killed by a criminal attempting to flee the law,” said Mr PJ Stone, GRA General Secretary.
In a number of linked motions at the GRA annual conference in Westport today and tomorrow, Donegal gardaí are demanding that out-of-the-car safety training is provided for every member of the force.