‘The ripple effect is still felt’
By David Flynn
A special exhibition of hand-made quilts representing victims of the recent Troubles period in Ireland will be on display at Athlone Castle until October 24.
At the launch of the exhibition recently, South Roscommon woman Teresa Hand-Campbell talked about the killing of her brother, Detective Garda Frank Hand, by the IRA in 1984.
Det Garda Hand is remembered in the commemorative quilts.
SEE FULL STORY ON QUILTS EXHIBITION HERE
“He was 26 years old, five weeks married and was shot dead at 7.50am and the local post office heard it before we did, and we heard it before the 10am news, where my brother had to break the news to my mother before RTÉ broke it,” said Ms Hand-Campbell. “I told my father as he came in from herding that morning. The ripple effect is still felt by my family.”
Two weeks later, Frank’s wife found out she was pregnant, and the baby girl is now a surgeon.
“If only the guy who murdered him could have stopped and chatted to him for five minutes, he would have discovered the lovely guy he was.
“We didn’t want to walk behind the coffin of a vibrant 26-year-old.”