Garda Carol Gibney remembered on 'Inside The K' tonight
Statement from Virgin Media: "Due to the nature of content in tonight’s scheduled episode of The Guards: Inside The K which deals with themes of mental health and suicide this programme will be postponed to a later date."
The funeral in Kilberry last September of Garda Carol Gibney, who took her own life, features in tonight’s episode of ‘The Guards - Inside The K’, on Virgin Media One.
The five-part production gained unprecedented access to the work carried out by An Garda Síochána in The K District, Ireland’s busiest policing district which includes Blanchardstown, Finglas and Cabra in Dublin.
Tonight’s episode looks at how the gardai in the district deal with call outs to mental health situations, and the Gibney family allowed filming at the funeral of Carol, who served in the K District.
In the programme, Superintendent Liam Carolan explains that following Carol’s death on Monday 2nd September last, the gardai offered a ceremonial aspect to her funeral, which the family accepted.
Sabina Higgins, wife of President Michael D Higgins, attended the funeral in the Church of St John the Baptist, celebrated by Fr John O’Brien, PP, Oristown.
In his homily, Fr O’Brien described Carol as a “people person, which drew her into her chosen career in the Garda Siochana”.
He said: “She took great pride in the uniform, and considered her colleagues as her second family. She was very sociable, with a witty sense of humour that was an asset to her.”
Fr O’Brien said that Carol had a great empathy with the vulnerable people she met, and joined the Garda Siochana with the genuine reason to help others.
“Yet, sadly, she struggled to ask for that help for herself,” he continued.
Her tough exterior but gentle heart were ideal for the work she did with the gardai, which she joined in 2008, he continued.
Colleagues in the K District said that they could be called to up to five mental health incidents a day, and the programme features traumatic emergency calls.
Among the members featured is Terry Nevin, who was a garda reserve in Navan for nine years before being accepted to the force in 2016. He says a garda station is one of the worst places to be in relation to mental health, as there are so many call outs to people attempting suicide.
In 2009, a proposal was recommended for crisis intervention teams to combine police and health services with round the clock response capabilities to serve the country. Since 2018, all political parties have accepted this report, the programme states.
Episode three of ‘The Guards: Inside The K’ airs on Virgin Media One on Wednesday 18th March at 9pm.