Hyland hits out at ‘absolutely despicable’ display of tricolour on garda killer’s coffin

A county councillor and former garda has branded the draping of the Republic of Ireland flag over the coffin of the man who murdered Gerry McCabe as ‘absolutely despicable’.

Pearse McAuley murdered Detective Gerry McCabe during an attempted robbery of a post office van in 1996.

The former IRA man had a tricolour flag draped over his coffin during his funeral in Strabane.

The display met with sharp criticism from Fine Gael leader Simon Harris, who described McAuley as ‘a garda killer’ and called on his party colleagues to ‘take back’ the flag.

Echoing Mr Harris’ comments, Westport-based councillor Christy Hyland slammed the display of the Republic of Ireland flag at the funeral.

“It was despicable, absolutely despicable, where I viewed, and so did everyone else, the tricolour on the coffin of the person who murdered a member of the Garda Síochána, a former colleague of mine,” Cllr Hyland said at the monthly meeting of Mayo County Council.

Cllr Hyland’s branded the display of the tricolour as ‘absolutely horrendous’ after his remarks were met with ‘here here’ from several council colleagues.

Addressing Mr Harris’ comments on McAuley’s funeral, Cllr Hyland called on Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Independents to ‘take back the tricolour’.

“But how dare they put the tricolour over the guy that shot Gerry McCabe at the side of the road below in Adare in County Limerick. It’s absolutely disgusting,” the former garda added.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris branded the display of the tricolour as ‘outrageous’ when asked about it at the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors conference in Westport.

In 2015, McAuley received a 12-year jail sentence for stabbing his estranged wife, Pauline Tully, now a Sinn Féin TD, with a steak knife at her home on Christmas Eve in 2014.

Senior Sinn Féin figures have distanced themselves from McCabe, including TDs Eoin O’Broin and Pearse Doherty, who said he was ‘not a republican’.

ENDS