The President, Mrs McAleese, led mourners at the funeral in Dublin yesterday of Garda Tony Tighe, who, with his colleague, Garda Michael Padden, was killed on Sunday when a stolen car crashed into their vehicle in south Dublin.
Garda Tighe was buried yesterday at Newlands Cemetery after Mass at Mount Argus. Garda Padden will be buried today after Mass in his home town of Belmullet, Co Mayo.
At yesterday's funeral Mass the Garda Chaplain, Father Joe Kennedy, described Garda Tighe as a "good, courteous and kind" man who was a true guardian of the peace.
He said: "Tony gave 32 years of loyal and dedicated service at Donnybrook. We think of the many ways in which he protected the lives and homes of our citizens in this country.
"How sad and tragic it was that in the quiet hours, early on Sunday morning when the rest of us were asleep, he went to try and help other road-users from danger.
"How sad and tragic it was that he should have lost his life in such a fashion, protecting the lives of others."
He went on: "Tony was a family man with family values, a devoted husband, father and son, with Christian values who carried those values with him in his work and his job."
Referring to the fact that Mount Argus was packed for the funeral Mass, Father Kennedy said: "This huge congregation is proof if proof was needed of the esteem in which Tony Tighe was held and the esteem in which the entire force, both men and women, are held in our country."
As the cortege carrying Garda Tighe's remains had made its way from St Vincent's Hospital through Donnybrook to the church on Tuesday evening hundreds of people had stopped their cars or paused on the pavement, he said.
Garda Tighe is survived by his widow, Irene, and three children. His son, Colum, is serving as a garda in Kilmainham station. He was on duty on Sunday morning and was in a second squad car which arrived on the scene of the collision in which his father died.
The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, represented the Government. The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, had attended the removal on Tuesday evening. The Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, is abroad. The Garda representation at the funeral was led by a Deputy Commissioner, Mr Noel Conroy, who is head of Garda operations with Deputy Commissioner Peter Fitzgerald.
Mr Fitzgerald's son, Eoin, a garda stationed at Blackrock, was himself killed in a car accident in January 1998 while responding to an emergency call in the Merrion area.
The Defence Forces were represented by the Chief-of-Staff, Lieut Gen Colm Mangan. A senior Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officer also attended on behalf of the Chief Constable's office.
The Garda Band and a guard of honour led the coffin from the church and again to burial at Newlands.
Father Kennedy asked the mourners to remember Pte Peader Ó Flaithearta, the soldier killed on duty with the United Nations in East Timor in an accidental shooting incident.
A large number of the gardaí at yesterday's funeral left Dublin almost immediately afterwards to travel to Belmullet for the Garda Padden obsequies.
Several gardaí who attended Garda Tighe's funeral yesterday spoke to The Irish Times of what they said were inadequate laws concerning the theft of cars and "joyriding".