THREE OF the four policemen killed in the car crash near Warrenpoint on Sunday - all of them from south Down, all based at Kilkeel station in the county, and all recruits to the PSNI in the past three years - were buried in country churchyards in the county yesterday.
Large crowds turned out for the funeral services in Dromore, Drumaness and Kilkeel yesterday to pay respects to the police officers, James Magee, Kevin Gorman and Kenny Irvine, and to sympathise with their families.
Declan Greene from Kilkeel, the fourth victim of Sunday morning's incident - in which the officers' 4x4 Shogun crashed into a wall on the road between Kilkeel and Warrenpoint and burst into flames - is being buried today at Massforth, near Kilkeel.
PSNI chief constable sir Hugh Orde, deputy chief constable Paul Leighton and assistant chief constable Judith Gillespie, who is in charge of rural police operations, and many other police officers attended some or all of the three funerals.
Policing board members and leading politicians also attended. Sinn Féin was represented at the funerals.
The first funeral service yesterday was for 27-year-old Constable James Bawn Magee at the Church of Ireland cathedral in Dromore. A single man living in Newcastle, Co Down but originally from Dromore, he joined the PSNI three years ago. Chief mourners yesterday were his parents Freda and Bawn, and sisters Sarah and Rachel.
Dean Stephen Lowry said that Constable Magee "died on duty in the prime of life with everything to live for and the best record you could imagine". Dean Lowry said that Constable Magee's ambition was to become a detective and that he recently passed his CID entrance exam.
"His family speak of his utter loveliness as the best brother you could imagine, the best son you could have," he said. Dean Lowry added that he lived "life to the full with love and respect for God, his parents and for his many friends".
At the second funeral, that of 24-year-old Constable Kevin Gorman, members of the local GAA and soccer teams, for whom he played, formed a guard of honour outside the Christ the King Catholic Church in Drumaness. Constable Gorman, originally from Drumaness, lived in nearby Ballynahinch with his partner Debbie, who is expecting a second child, and their four-month old daughter Shannyn.
During Mass a tribute was read out from his brother Shane, who said Constable Gorman, who joined the PSNI in August last year, "crammed more into his 24 years than most people do in a lifetime".
The third funeral service held yesterday was for 30-year-old Constable Kenneth Irvine, known as Kenny, at Kilkeel Presbyterian Church. He joined the PSNI as a part-time officer in December 2006 and worked and lived in Kilkeel with his wife Andrea and baby son Callum. He was predeceased by a second son, Joshua. Yesterday was the fourth anniversary of his marriage to Andrea.
Rev Stephen Johnston said that Constable Irvine loved his country and his community. "Kenny wanted to do his bit in making the community a better place, a safer place, and he with his colleagues in the early hours of Sunday died doing their duty, serving their community. Again, what an example they are to us all."
