One silver and four bronze Scott medals for bravery were awarded to members of the Garda yesterday.
The silver medal was awarded to Garda Patrick Melody, for intervening when an attempt was made to shoot a man in Inchicore, Dublin on July 17th, 2001. A motor-cycle garda, Garda Melody pursued the car with the assailants, leading to the arrest of the occupants.
A bronze medal was awarded to Det Sgt Michael Fitzgerald, who was off-duty when he prevented an attempted robbery by a gunman of a Statoil Service Station in Dublin. Garda Ciaron Barry was awarded a bronze medal for saving a man who jumped into the Liffey on January 6th last. He jumped in fully clothed and rescued the man.
Sgt James Nolan and Det Garda Thomas Murphy were both awarded a bronze Scott medal for preventing an armed robbery from a shop in Limerick on Jan 25th 2000.
The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, also presented the Dag Hammarskjold Medal to Mrs Mosemary Reid, wife of the late Sergeant Paul Reid, and Mrs Marie-Therese de Mora, wife of the late ex-Garda Francis Eivers. This is a posthumous award to members of the UN peace-keeping force who lost their lives while on service with the UN.