A Monaghan Garda who was killed in the line of duty in 1976 was posthumously awarded a Scott Gold Medal for bravery in a moving ceremony held at the Garda College in Templemore on Friday last.
Relatives of the late Garda Michael Clerkin were present to accept the award from Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan TD. Garda Clerkin was killed by a bomb at a booby-trapped premises in Garryhinch, Portarlington, Co Laois.
He and his colleagues had been lured to the location on foot of an anonymous telephone call referring to a plot to kidnap and kill the father of the current Justice Minister Oliver J Flanagan, who was then a TD for the Laois/Offaly constituency.
Garda Clerkin’s colleagues who accompanied him on the occasion – Sergeant James Cannon, Detective Garda Thomas F Peters, Garda Gerry Bohan and Detective Garda Ben Thornton – were themselves presented with Scott Gold Medals on Friday…
