All good things must come to an end and that’s how Supt Liam Horgan summed up his career with An Garda Síochána.
ALL good things must come to an end and that’s how Supt Liam Horgan summed up his career with An Garda Síochána.
He was speaking at his retirement coffee morning held in Innishannon House Hotel last Friday, where after almost 39 years of service, he is hanging up his boots for the last time.
As well as his family, friends and neighbours, serving and retired members of an Garda Síochána were out in force to honour Supt Horgan during the coffee morning, which he held in aid of the Friends of Bandon Community Hospital, a charity close to his heart.
‘It only seems like yesterday we were driving to Templemore for the first time on December 28th 1978 and I got caught in floods and was late getting there,’ joked Supt Horgan.
‘I’ve absolutely loved what I did and it was the second best decision I made – the best was marrying Carol Anne who has been a terrific support to me, as well as being patient too,’ he said.
‘We got rid of the blue shirts and then we had white shirts and now they’re gone too, but I’ve a few unused ones – I’ll hang onto them for a while,’ he joked.
Asst Garda Comm Anne-Marie McMahon also attended the event and paid tribute to Liam for his dedicated service.
‘Liam epitomises all that’s good in community policing and I would like to thank him for his overall sense of pride, steadiness and good counsel that he has given to An Garda Siochána throughout his years of service. He’s leaving with his head held high,’ she said. She also mentioned the ‘particularly rough’ time that the gardaí are going through at the moment, adding: ‘We haven’t shone ourselves in great light in some respects.’
However, this was a day to celebrate a career and Chief Supt of Cork West Division Con Cadogan said Supt Horgan had made a major contribution to policing in West Cork.
‘You were very helpful to me when I moved here last August ,and you will leave a legacy in Bandon. You have also been the driving force behind the CCTV project for the town, which will see 28 cameras going into Bandon in the third quarter of this year,’ said Chief Supt Cadogan.
Supt Michael Comyns also paid tribute to Supt Horgan, who is also the current chairman of the Munster branch of the Association of Superintendents. ‘He has done a huge amount of work over the years and he has had a big influence on a lot of things. He will be a huge loss to the Association,’ said Supt Comyns.
President of the West Cork Bar Association, Veronica Neville, also wished Supt Horgan well. We are losing a lot of corporate knowledge too with Liam, and he has been a wonderful resource – we were delighted when he was appointed.’
