Widow of policeman murdered by republicans says ‘similar’ garda slaying brings her memories right back

Bernie Morrissey’s spouse Patrick (usually known as Paddy) was gunned down after confronting an INLA team who had just carried out a robbery in Co Louth on June 27, 1985, and she has used the anniversary to recount the tale of how her family struggled with the aftermath of the murder.

She said it grieves her that Colm Horkan died alone facing his killer on June 17, just as her own husband had three-and-a-half decades before.

Bernie, 78 and now living in Drogheda, had worked in catering, and later earned a history degree and worked in the Battle of the Boyne museum.

She had been married to Paddy for 19 years when he went to intercept a pair of robbers who had stolen £25,000.

They fled on a motorbike but crashed, and Paddy gave chase to the fleeing paramilitaries, alone and unarmed.

He was wounded, then a gunman approached and shot him at point-blank range as he begged for life, Bernie said.

Detective Horkan was also shot after he confronted a man on a motorbike; one man has been charged with the crime.

Asked if that had brought back unpleasant memories for her, Bernie said: “Yes, because it was in similar circumstances.

“Poor Colm Horkan. He hadn’t a chance. He was just gunned down, and he was alone – which is the saddest thing.

“My saddest part of Paddy’s death was if he had to die then that was that – but it’s the fact the last face he saw in this world was filled with such hatred. That’s the hardest thing.

“I feel very very sorry for his [Colm’s] family, for his father – he’s a shattered man. For his siblings. To be honest, this might sound strange, I was very relieved he didn’t have children.

“It’s too much of a cross for a child to bear.”

Paddy was survived at the time of death by brother George, brother Marty (who since died), mum Esther, sons Martin and Brian, and daughters Mary and Aideen.

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“I was working at a restaurant,” she said.

“My boss came in and kind of put his arms around me and took me to the back office.”

There was parish priest Father O’Reilly, and a nun who taught her daughters.

She asked if her daughter was hurt, and they said no.

“I said: ‘It’s Paddy then – is he dead?’

“They said yes, and I was taken then to the Garda station.

“Brian [her son] phoned me when I was in the station. I can remember this clearly.

“He said: ‘What is it mum?’

“I said: ‘It’s very bad. It’s really bad’.

“The words wouldn’t come out. I couldn’t say: ‘Your daddy is dead’. I just froze. I couldn’t say the words.

“I kept asking: ‘Could I go to Paddy?’

“That’s all I wanted to do. To go and kneel beside him.

“I couldn’t because the scene had to be preserved.

“Eventually that evening I was told I could see Paddy at the morgue.

“We just went into the morgue and it was just a slab and there was a sheet over Paddy. I froze again and I couldn’t touch him.

“I just fell down on my knees and started to pray. I just kept saying: ‘Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.’

“Initially I was waking up in the morning and wondered how we were going to get through the day.

“I can’t believe now that 35 years on, we’re still coping.”

‘NO-ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO DO THIS TO KIDS’

Bernie Morrissey was also asked her views on the republican movement.

She was speaking to the News Letter shortly before leading IRA member Bobby Storey was buried in west Belfast.

She noted that children who lost parents during the Troubles are “marked forever” by the trauma.

“I don’t think anything is worth the life of one person,” she said.

“I don’t think anybody has the right to take a parent away from their children. No cause.”

Asked about the Storey funeral specifically, the devout Catholic answered: “It’s a very hurtful subject.

“I suppose we’re all told not to judge. And we’re told nobody knows when somebody is dying the mercy of God that’s there.

“If people are sorry for hurt they’ve caused it makes a difference.”

She also added: “I don’t regard killers as heroes. Violence is not the answer.”

She said that the two men who were responsible for her husband’s death had been caught and jailed, but due to a change in the law to allow one-third remission of sentences, both of them were released a few years back.

A sergeant in the Garda, Paddy Morrissey had served in Waterford, Drogheda, Dublin, Omeath, and Co Louth.

He was also one of the key drivers of the Garda Sub-Aqua Unit, used to search for victims’ remains.

He also helped found the Garda Male Voice Choir; that is why those two images are depicted on his patch within the South East Fermanagh Foundation’s ‘Terrorism knows No Borders’ memorial quilt.

The Scott Medal was posthumously awarded to him on December 4 1986, and in 2013 he was also awarded the freedom of Drogheda.

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