A detective garda who was shot in an armed raid on Drumree post office in Co Meath almost 20 years ago has been commemorated by a plaque in Dunshaughlin Garda station.
The late Det Garda Frank Hand and his colleague, Det Garda Michael Dowd, were escorting a post office van with social welfare and pension money when raiders struck on August 19th, 1984.
A native of Co Roscommon, Det Garda Hand, who was aged 27 when he was shot dead, had been one of the officers who played a key role in the arrest of the murderer Malcolm MacArthur in August 1982.
The plaque was unveiled by the garda's daughter, Fiona, who had not been born when he died, as well as by his widow, Breda, who is also a garda.
The attendance included a large number of Garda members, including two Assistant Commissioners, Mr Tony Hickey and Ms Catherine Clancy, other members of the Hand family and members of the Gilsenan family of Drumree post office.
One of two postal drivers involved in the Drumree incident 20 years ago, Mr Jimmy Bell, attended, as did the sons of the second driver, the late Mr Donal Brady.