Local reaction:People who lived and worked with Det Garda Adrian Donohoe remember him as a respected and well-liked colleague and a man who was deeply involved in the community.
Garda Donohoe trained under-sixes in Gaelic football in Lordship, Co Louth, and recently took responsibility in St Patrick’s Gaelic Football Club for looking after juvenile members.
Club chairman Alan Duffy said the Cooley peninsula had “lost a hero, Louth has lost a hero and the country has lost a hero”.
“You would meet Adrian one day and he would be dressed in his suit because he was an armed plainclothes garda and the next day you would meet him in his Gaelic kit and there would be 60 six-year-olds chasing him around a field on a summer’s evening,” he recalled.
Det Garda Donohoe was stationed in Dundalk since graduating from the Garda Training College in Templemore. The 41-year-old and his wife Caroline, also a garda in Dundalk, lived in Ravensdale just a few kilometres from the credit union where his life ended.
The GAA club opened a book of condolences for him on Saturday.
“He lived and breathed this area . . . He was a role model and somebody who would stand up and get involved. At 6ft 6in he was a gentle giant,” said Mr Duffy.
Devastated by his loss
In Dundalk Garda station, his colleagues and friends are still coming to terms with his death. Within 12 hours the station was filling with flowers, wreaths and cards.
Chief Supt Pat McGee, Louth division, had known the detective since he arrived in Dundalk.
“I was totally shocked when I heard the news on Friday night. He was doing his job, which he loved, protecting the community.
“His Garda colleagues and everyone who knew him have been devastated by his loss.”
Garda Robbie Peelo, the Garda Representative Association representative in Dundalk, said: “Adrian was also a proud Cavan and Kilnaleck man and often travelled home for matches.
“He was the epitome of what people want in a garda. He lived in their community and yet as a detective he was also at the forefront of the fight against subversives.
“His death was horrific no matter where it happened. But for it to happen in the community he was part of makes it all the more horrific and everyone who knew him is devastated.”
Within 10 hours more than 13,000 people had pledged their support in his memory on a Facebook page. A book of condolences will open in Dundalk Town Hall this morning .
Det Garda Donohoe was also being mourned in the community of Kilkee, Co Clare, his wife’s home town.
‘Absolutely shocked’
Garda Caroline (Deloughery) Donohoe is attached to the Garda National Immigration Bureau in Dundalk. She met her husband when they were studying at the Garda training college in Templemore in the early 1990s.
Her twin brother Derek is a Garda sergeant attached to Henry Street station.
Two brothers of the late Garda Donohoe are also members of the force.
Mayor of Clare Cllr Claire Haugh also expressed her shock at his death. “We are devastated to hear this awful news. Adrian and Caroline were married here in Kilkee . . . The whole town is absolutely shocked at the news.”