The former State forensic scientist, Dr James Donovan, was remembered at his funeral Mass as an “inspiration to us all” who would never give in to criminality or terrorism.
Dr Donovan, originally from Cork city, died at the age of 80 this week. He was director of the State’s forensic laboratory from its foundation in 1975 to his retirement in 2002.
He was badly injured in a car bomb planted by gang leader Martin ‘The General’ Cahill in 1982.
His sister, Carmel, said Dr Donovan was an “unsung hero – he gave his life to protect the people of Ireland”.
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It was his forensic evidence alone that convicted Thomas McMahon, the bomber who killed Lord Louis Mountbatten and three others at Mullaghmore in 1979.
His life was regularly threatened, she said, and in 1981 his car was blown up but luckily he was not in it at the time.
On January 6th, 1982, Carmel said a “coward put a bomb under his car. He was very badly injured and suffered for 43 years. Mary [his wife] and James’s life changed completely from that day.”
Nevertheless, she said her brother went back to work telling his sister, “If I don’t go back to work, they will have won and I won’t allow that”.
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris told the congregation at Mount Argus Church in Dublin that Dr Donovan was a “very dedicated, valiant and determined public servant and, as I repeat again, an inspiration to us all”.
Chaplain to An Garda Síochána, Fr Jim Kennedy read out several tributes to Dr Donovan that were posted on rip.ie from former or serving senior gardaí.
Former assistant commissioner Dermot Jennings described him as a “great friend and true servant of the State”.
An Garda Síochána Retired Members’ Association (GSRMA) Joe Derwin said Irish society owed a “deep sense of gratitude” to Dr Donovan in the fight against organised and subversive crime.
Delivering the eulogy, the crime journalist and author Paul Williams said Dr Donovan lived with “the constant, unending, unflinching pain that he paid for service to the Irish people.
“It was a constant reminder for him for what evil there was in the world. That’s why he was our hero. He was the living embodiment of the term public service – an extraordinary hero and patriot”.
Mr Williams, who wrote the book The General about Martin Cahill which was made into a film by John Boorman, said he was not happy at the “trivial” handling of the car bomb in the film and rang up Dr Donovan to apologise.
Dr Donovan had been “so gracious and so understanding” about it.
The Troubles had introduced the gun to the streets of the Irish Republic and the State faced a serious threat from republican subversion which was followed by the threat from organised crime.
“He was a pivotal member of the State’s fight back when the thin blue line was stretched to the limit,” said Mr Williams.
“He continued to work for another 22 years despite the fact that he was in constant pain all his waking hours.”
Dr Donovan’s “genius” had left a legacy in all the cases that have been solved since by forensic science, he said. “We will never see his likes again”.
Dr Donovan is survived by his wife Mary, sisters Helen and Carmel, brothers-in-law Noel and Tim, nephews and nieces.
