Mayo in mourning over tragic death of ballina garda

THE member of the Garda Siochana killed in Co. Louth yesterday evening after responding to a call about domestic abuse at a house near Omeath has been named as Anthony Golden, a native of Culleens, KIllala Road, Ballina.

Thirty-six-year-old Garda Golden was married with three children. A book of condolences has opened at Ballina Garda Station as a pale of sadness has been cast over the north Mayo town.

The cathaoirleach of the Ballina Municipal District, Councillor Gerry Ginty, has extended his sympathy to the Golden family on their tragic loss. Garda Golden was stationed at Omeath and lived in Blackrock in Co Louth.

The president of the Garda Representative Organisation Dermot O’Brien said the force has descended into 'a darkness' following the murder of Garda Anthony Golden.

A man was also shot dead in an incident being treated by gardaí as a murder-suicide while a woman, who was also shot at the scene, was seriously injured. She remains in hospital where her condition is described as stable.

Mr. O’Brien paid tribute to Garda Golden saying: 'He was a fine member of An Garda Síochana but besides that he was also a husband, a father and a son.'

The shooting, the second such incident in Co Louth in the last three years, has, according to the government, gardaí, and some opposition politicians, once again highlighted the dangers gardaí face in the course of their duty.

The gunman, who has been named locally as Adrian Crevan Mackin (24), was known to gardaí as a dissident republican who was facing charges before the Special Criminal Court and was out on bail.