About 500 people attended an ecumenical service to commemorate deceased members of the Royal Irish Constabulary and Dublin Metropolitan Police which took place in Mount Argus church in Dublin at the weekend.
Minister of State for Finance Brian Hayes was among those who attended the service, along with relatives of men who served in the RIC and DMP and a number of retired gardaí.
The British ambassador was represented by Rod Fenning, while Supt Brendan Connolly represented the Garda Commissioner.
Speaking at the start of the ceremony, Gerard Lovett, a retired garda who is secretary of the commemoration committee, extended a special welcome to the families of RIC and DMP members. He said the sacrifice made by policemen in the course of their duty in the 1916 to 1922 period had been enormous. “Sadly, the terrible price paid by these brave men has been largely unacknowledged, and it is our intention to ensure as much as we can that in this upcoming decade of commemorations they will not be airbrushed from history.”
He said between 1868 and 1915, 39 policemen in Ireland died violently. Between 1916 and 1922 the figure was 500 killed, 58 of them after the signing of the Treaty, with another 21 reported missing and their bodies never recovered.
Mr Lovett thanked the Garda chaplain, Fr Joe Kennedy CP, for his invaluable assistance in organising the event.
