Former Garda commissioner ‘somewhat shocked’ by news of Semtex discovery on Friday
Former Garda commissioner Drew Harris: 'News like this is always shocking.' Photograph: Nick Bradshaw
The discovery of a Semtex car bomb in Co Monaghan shows An Garda Síochána and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) were not “complacent” in the face of the threat posed by dissident republicans, former Garda commissioner Drew Harris has said.
Speaking at the Patrick MacGill Summer School in Donegal on Saturday, Harris, who retired last September, said the news of the Carrickmacross seizure had left him “somewhat shocked”.
“News like this is always shocking. Thirty years ago, it might have made the inner pages. But now it’s so unusual that genuinely people were very surprised and shocked, taken aback,” he said.
