"Dad was bundled from his bed, forced to stand outside the house wall in dizzling rain and subjected to a savage interrogation at gunpoint"

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"From the outset, the arrival of illegal drugs in Ireland was regarded primarily as a problem for law enforcement... i.e. An Garda Síochána."

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"The man with the torch rested his rifle on the partially open car window about 12 inches from my head. My kids were utterly terrified in the back seat. 'What do they want?'... Maura whispered hoarsely. The muzzle was now pointing into my right eye."

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John McGroarty ran away to the British Merchant Marine because an overzealous cleric was pressuring him to become a priest. It took three years before the mast traversing the global oceans before he decided to return to Ireland and in 1960 he joined An Garda Síochána, Ireland's national police force. Over the next four decades, he ascended through the ranks from entry-level Garda through to the topmost operational rank of Detective Chief Superintendent. A qualified criminologist, John is also a former national head of Europol and Interpol.

This book tracks John's career in the Gardaí from working as a Superintendent in the notoriously tough Garda "A" District incorporating Kevin Street and Kilmainham Stations, recovering Dr John O'Grady's severed fingers after a botched kidnap attempt by the renegade republican Dessie O'Hare in 1987, the arrest of Larry Dunne, Ireland's first drug godfather, whose case changed the jury system, and the arrest of Frederick Parkinson, the U.D.A.'s most prolific fire bomber.

John's personal testimony retails front-line facts by one who was there and highlights the duties, pressures and responsibilities that fall on the shoulders of those who are tasked to risk their lives, and the impact on their families, in our name.

* Please note, that orders are posted once a week, every Friday. We want to reduce our impact on the environment, to that end we are reducing the number of journeys we make. If you need your order urgently please write to info@printmybook.com or call (021) 4883 458 and we will happily accommodate your request. Thank you for understanding.

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