Hugo McNeill, no I donât believe so.
No the other lad.
Ps Iâve had an absolute fill of drink
Different times pal
Watching Scannal on rte about the border fox and John OâGrady kidnapping.
@anon67715551 @Fagan_ODowd et al of that vintage - were the Garda Siochana an awful rag tag operation in the 80s and early 90s seeing how they fucked up and botched so many high profile cases
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An association of willing, if poorly led misfortunates. Younger Gardai were spending long stretches on âborder dutiesâ while the higher ranked remained hidden in hotel lounges and conducting surveillance on what could be called friendly chip-shops. 
There weâre some almighty fuck-ups - my favourite being when the Minister for Justice âborrowedâ a squad car to make sure a rustic damsel got home safely from the Dome during the ROT festival. In a nutshell he crashed the squad car causing 2 AK-47âs to tumble into a gripe at the side of the road. A vigilant Yerra (arenât they all) salvaged the artillery (for a fee allegedly) the lassie was mostly unharmed and we all lived happily ever after.
The blonde widow matter, the Dowra affair, the Tidey cock-upsâŚâŚendless. Poor leadership and a dreadful culture of nod and wink but youâd have been a terrible gobshite if you got nailed for anything.
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Ah the training was shocking tooâŚthey were so Badly prepared ⌠even the thr don tidy case they pulled all the lads straight out of templemore for the search in forest in Leitrim , madnessâŚ
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Would I be right in thinking that there was a flock of failed seminarians that went up through the ranks in those times?
@mickee321 used to have great stories about shitting it after being left at home in Cork by his parents while OâHare roamed the moors.
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Mention of the late MOJ reminds me of the evening he died. We were in the village and the rumour was that he was critical. The local SF supporter was at the bottom end of the counter was giving out shit about him, a snake, corrupt, a hoor for wimmen, the Dowra affair etcâŚ
A local encouraged him to cool it, the man on his deathbed etc.,
Fuck him, didnât his father rob the National Bank in Ballinamore in the 1930âs and got away with itâŚrelentless.
The 9 oâclock news confirmed he was dead and many offered sympathies ( possibly beneficiaries of a timely chalk that off nod)âŚMeanwhile our protagonist kept hammering his case, a crooked fucker etcâŚ
Finally another man intervened after tipping me the all-knowing winkâŚNow this was the quietest man sitting there at the counter but he called our man to order and gently queriedâŚ.
âWas there much wrong with him the night John Ellis and Boxtyeater here brought you over to Cootehall after you were caught with 15-16 pints in you outside Carrick and the case disappeared and you kept the job with the Board of WorksââŚâŚ.
Finishes pint, splutters a good luck and wasnât in the village in 12 monthsâŚ.
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Outstanding, that learned him!
You must be familiar with the case of a young fella around your area driving around in a fast car at that time and opened fire upon by said guards paralysing him on one side of his body?
Not forgetting The Heavy Gang, The Kerry babies, the Molloy murder etc.
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Think that was more a collaboration than a cock up ?
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That was on the Friday night of the Tidey rescue. He has an unlicensed shotgun in the boot of the car when stopped at a checkpoint within sight of his own home. As the trainee Garda approached the door he floored the accelerator and took off. A soldier positioned behind a road sign shot him in the head through the back window of the departing carâŚâŚHe favours his left side and his left arm never recovered but was subsequently the recipient of a tidy settlement irrespective of the legalities of the whole thing.
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Right. I was under the impression he didnât really do anything to incur their wrath but that explains it.
The guards were dusting the trees for fingerprints because the figured the IRA lads holding Tidey would be leaning on the trees with their hands when having a slash.
In their defence this was a police force that spent the first five decades of their existence checking for tax discs and dog licences and were then suddenly thrust into the middle of a full scale guerilla war.
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Sorry for delay but Iâm unable to give an opinion on that. I wouldnât be overly familiar with staffing lists beyond the few âeager beaversâ weâve had locally and I can assure you their familiarity with the classics are solely confined to Doncaster and Epsom.
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