SHORTLY before 7 a.m. the silence was shattered in the prettiest village in Ireland. The sound of metal crashing against metal was followed almost instantaneously by gunfire, and the citizens of Adare, Co Limerick, woke up to the news that a Garda detective had been killed and his colleague and friend seriously injured.
Ten hours or so later when the scene was finally cleared, the community was still in shock at what had happened. There was another emergency when gardai cleared the street in the immediate vicinity because of what appeared be a suspect package in the Pajero jeep used by the raiders. This happened shortly before 4 p.m. just as the two vehicles were about to be towed away to Limerick for examination, but the all clear was given 15 minutes later.
Stunned gardai who knew Det Garda Jerry McCabe and Det Garda Ben O'Sullivan could not believe one of their colleagues was dead and the other was seriously injured in Limerick Regional Hospital.
But even as the story began to emerge there were accounts of the clear headedness of the An Post truck driver, Mr William Jackson. He was in the back of the SDS truck taking out mail when he heard the crash as the black Dublin registered Mitsubishi jeep rammed the back of the Ford Mondeo car with the two detectives.
When he heard the shots he jumped out of the truck with his hands up and threw himself on the ground. After he saw the raiders get away he ran to the detectives' car and phoned the emergency services. He then ran into the small post office, where he grabbed a belt to make a tourniquet for Det Garda O'Sullivan's arm. He had been shot in the shoulder, but was still conscious. Det Garda McCabe died shortly after the shooting.
A local businessman in the area heard the shots, looked out the window and phoned the emergency services. Dr Nick van Kuik the local GP, was contacted by the gardai and gave assistance. So, too, did Father Denis Mullane, the local curate, who gave Det Garda McCabe the Last Rites.
Mail and money in the truck destined for other towns on the route to Abbeyfeale at the Limerick border were transferred to another truck. There were bullet holes in the window of another house just up the road.
But though the local community was stunned by the tragedy it was business as usual for the tourists who arrived in the village by the busload. Adare, famous for its row of thatched cottages and its neat main street, attracts more than 50,000 visitors annually, virtually - all of them stopping at the village's heritage centre.
Although there was a traffic tail back, gardai kept it moving with as little disruption as possible.
Spectators stood in front of the shops across the road from the scene of the shooting. Tourists strolled up the street to take photos and video what was happening. Even the guests at a wedding came up to have a look at what was going on.
The sad drama continued through the day. When the deputy State Pathologist, Dr Margaret Bolster, arrived shortly after 1 p.m., gardai constructed a plastic curtain around the vehicles. Dr Bolster put on white overalls to make a preliminary examination. Garda forensic experts, also in boiler suits, examined the vehicles and outlined the bullet marks in chalk as they picked up the shells.
Glass was strewn around the car and there was a bullet hole on the driver's side of the front wind screen. There was almost total silence in the village when a hearse moved in behind the tarpaulin and then moved back out again with the coffin as Det Garda McCabe's body was brought back to the city.