Seventeen serving, retired and deceased gardaí were today awarded Scott medals for bravery at the Garda College in Templemore.
A gold Scott medal has been awarded posthumously to Garda Tony Golden who was shot dead in Omeath, Co Louth in October 2015 while helping a woman to leave a violent relationship.
His wife Nicola accepted the award, while his colleague Garda Gerard O’Callaghan who went into the house after he heard the shots that Sunday also received a Scott medal.
Five other bravery medals were also awarded after one garda was killed and four were seriously injured, when a bomb went off while they responded to an anonymous call threatening the life of the former Minister for Defence Oliver J Flanagan in October 1976.
Seventeen serving, retired and deceased gardaí were today awarded Scott Medals for bravery https://t.co/KRy126ozOu pic.twitter.com/UvGOYhIr2B
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) December 8, 2017
Garda Michael Clerkin died in the incident.
Oliver J Flanagan's son, the current Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan, described it as a personal and poignant moment for him.
Other gardaí who received Scott medals today include a detective who 20 years ago was shot and seriously injured during the robbery of a labour exchange; two gardai who wrestled with a man with a loaded shotgun in Tipperary; a garda who carried an elderly woman out of a burning building in Dublin and a garda who faced down a man armed with a Samurai sword and four knives at Leinster House.
Also, 211 gardaí graduated at the Garda College.
