The Scott Gold Medal for bravery presented during ceremony to mark the golden jubilee year of An Garda Síochána.
The Scott Medal is the highest honour for valor in the force and since the foundation of An Garda Síochana 50 years ago, over 90 gold, silver and bronze medals have been awarded. The ceremony took place at the Garda headquarters in the Phoenix Park as part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations. Previous winners of the Walter Scott medals were in attendance at the ceremony.
The gold medal was posthumously awarded to Garda Richard (Dick) Fallon who was killed while on duty in a Dublin bank raid on 3 April 1970. The medal was awarded to Garda Fallon's widow Deirdre Fallon by Minister for Justice Des O'Malley.
It was the 93rd Scott medal to be awarded and the first to be given posthumously.
A silver medal was awarded to Garda Paul Firth of Mountjoy Garda Station in Dublin who was with Garda Fallon on the day that he was shot dead.
James Mulroy, the first man ever to be awarded a Scott Medal, was also in attendance at the ceremony.
The awards were established when Colonel Walter Scott, Honorary Commissioner of the New York Police presented a thousand dollars gold bond to the Garda Síochána to provide in perpetuity the annual award of a gold medal for bravery.
Today saw the conclusion of two days of ceremonies to mark 50 years of the force with a large crowd seeing Sergeant Thomas Boyle put the Garda Band through its musical paces. The Garda Motorcycle Squad also put on a lively display the Garda motor cars of the future were on show.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 14 June 1972. The reporter is Don McManus.
