Posted online: Apr 13th, 2009

By Chris Ashmore
Letterkenny is a town in shock this week following the death of Garda Robbie McCallion (29) who died in a Dublin hospital on Tuesday, just under a fortnight after he had been called out to investigate an incident involving a stolen car in the town.
His passing has evoked a sense of great shock and sadness throughout the county and in his native Mayo.
Already hundreds of people have already signed a Book of Condolence in Letterkenny Garda Station. Books of Condolence have also been set up in Ballina and Swinford.
The late Gda McCallion will be afforded a State Funeral next Monday in Swinford, Co. Mayo, at 1.00 pm.
The President of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, Paschal Feeney, said that Garda McCallion had died while serving the people of Letterkenny. “We are grief-stricken by the death of this young garda in the prime of his life.”
Local Cllr. Ciaran Brogan added: “The fact that a garda in the line of duty could suffer such serious injuries and loss of life has sent shock waves through the town and its people.”
His parents Bob and Nancy and other family members were by his bedside when he died in Beaumont Hospital on Tuesday.