A former Letterkenny based Detective Garda featured on a moving documentary this week focusing on the kidnapping of supermarket executive, Don Tidey, and the murder of a Garda recruit and an army private.

Cyril Meehan was a recruit with colleague, Gary Sheehan, before the latter’s deployment from Templemore to join in the search for the Quinnsworth chief.

But during the search operation at Drumcroman Woods in Derrada, County Leitrim, the I.R.A. gang responsible for the kidnapping opened fire, killing both Garda Sheehan and army Private Patrick Kelly.

Mr Meehan, who served in a number of locations in Donegal and has since retired from the force, recalled in the documentary, ‘The Case I Can’t Forget’, broadcast on R.T.E. television on Monday night, that one of his duties following the killing had been to form a guard of honour for his murdered colleague in the morgue.

It had, he said, been a particularly emotional time when the parents and siblings of Garda Sheehan entered. “I regret I didn’t break rank to go over to say to them that we were proud of him.”

The killing of both the young Garda and army private had, he added, driven his career, changing his outlook on how to deal with the I.R.A.

“I was trying to balance the books but nothing was going to balance the books after what happened to Gary and Patrick.”

Don Tidey had been taking his 13 year old daughter to school on the morning of November 24th, 1983 when he was kidnapped by the I.R.A. gang.

After nine days of Garda investigation into the case there were still no leads until the gang got in touch with the authorities demanding a 5 million euro ransom. But it was made clear to them that the ransom would not be paid.

Meanwhile, suspicious activity in the Ballinamore area of County Leitrim concentrated the search for the missing Quinnsworth chief there and hundreds of army personnel and Gardai were drafted in to search dense woodland.

The kidnapping ended in a shoot-out on December 16th, 1983, after twenty-three days when the I.R.A. gang opened fire and both young men were killed, Garda Sheehan dying instantly from bullets to the head and Private Kelly succumbing to multiple head wounds at the scene.

“It came as an awful shock. We went from being immature young men to growing up very quickly,” said former Detective Garda Meehan of his colleagues at the time.

Reflecting on his former colleague, Cyril Meehan told the programme: “He was an easy guy to get to know and to like.”

The I.R.A. gang got away – and were to repeat that on two further occasions when they were seemingly cornered – while Don Tidey managed to free himself following his ordeal.

The kidnapping turned into a double capital murder as the search for the killers continued.

“The Case I Can’t Forget’ followed retired Defence Forces Sergeant Major, P.J. Higgins, as he and others reflected on the kidnapping and double murder.