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THE DEFENCE FORCES have paid tribute to their colleague Lt Col Jack Griffin who was killed after being struck by a car on Saturday afternoon.
Lt Col Griffin (47) had been jogging on the Horse and Jockey road, just outside Thurles, in Tipperary when he was struck by a car driven by a 32-year-old man and carrying three child passengers.
All occupants of the car were uninjured in the incident.
“Lt Col Griffin epitomised the Defence Forces values and ethos,” a spokesperson told TheJournal.ie.
Those values of selflessness, loyalty, integrity, and moral and physical courage, Jack had them in abundance.
He had all the leadership traits that you would expect from an officer in the Defence Forces.
“It is just shocking, it really is,” Comdt Seán Ó Fátharta, a friend of Lt Col Griffin’s, told TheJournal.ie.
He was so very well known, our thoughts are all with Jack’s family, his wife and three little girls.
He really did make an impression on anyone he met, he had such a great manner about him.
He’s a huge loss to his family. It’s a loss that is felt across the defence forces.
Commissioned in 1988, Lt Col Griffin had almost 29 years experience in the Defence Forces.
A Physical Education graduate of the University of Limerick, he was heavily involved in training teams as a selector with his local club in Tipperary, Thurles Sarsfields, who recently retained their senior county hurling championship.
A former instructor at Ireland’s military college, Lt Col Griffin had vast experience of serving overseas. He saw three tours of duty in Lebanon, and was also based in the Western Sahara, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, and the Ivory Coast in Africa.
At the time of his death he was based in Brussels as part of the EU’s military staff from which he had been at home on a few days leave.
Lt Col Griffin was remembered at the annual ceremony for deceased members of the Defences Forces in Dublin yesterday.
His funeral will be held at the Cathedral of the Assumption in Thurles at 1pm on Wednesday.
Gardai have appealed for witnesses to Saturday’s tragic accident to contact them at Thurles Garda Station on 0504 25100, the Garda Confidential Telephone Line on 1 800 666 111, or any Garda Station.
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Why is the Journal.ie closing the comments section on so many articles, as it’s making it close to not worth while reading it.
@Owen Mc: Agreed, my own position is straight forward…no comments no read.
@Owen Mc: The Journal doesn’t encourage any discussion. Just vote on the daily polls about silly subjects.
@Owen Mc: Glad they have closed it down. One less outlet for headcases.
@Wallace Mooney: That word is offensive. Use muppets instead.
@Owen Mc: My sentiments exactly.
@Owen Mc: they close the comments section as some tend to hijack the comments and post things that are off topic I.e refugees Isreal Gaza Iran US UK etc etc so until such a time as children learn to behave they can have their toys back.
@Owen Mc: for some articles such as open criminal cases, I can accept no comments. However, for divisive topics, it is becoming more than a little craven on their TheJournals part. I sent them an email, raising the issue constructive but received no response. I think there’s an opportunity for another news site to set up something similar where the public are far less muzzled.
@Injustice Cop: I’m sure they had a good laugh at your email.
People yesterday saying these absolute warnings are fear mongering! It’s not fear mongering, it was and is necessary warnings as the weather out there is lethal. I can see it with my own eyes, also took a smack of a metal door trying to get the wheelie bins in (ouch). Seriously, the comments from yesterday, saying governments are trying to keep us scared with weather warnings etc, that’s the fear mongering right there!!!!
Stay safe everyone, batten down the hatches!
@keith fay: same crowd will be out later/tomorrow banning on about how it wasn’t that bad and sure we always got storms…. oh ”records” showing that these storms are getting more intense and more frequent. Totally made up by the government.
@Ross: exactly, or saying ‘in my day we called that winter’ or something, so annoying
@William Slevin: we’re talking about people calling weather warnings ‘fear mongering’ when they’re just valuable weather warnings that serve a purpose
@William Slevin: met eireann issue a weather warning, news outlets report that warning. How on earth is that fear mongering. Reporting the news is not fear mongering, it’s reporting the news.
@William Slevin: oh dear, a full blown tin foil hat conspiracy nut. How long before you start talking about the ‘narrative’ lol
@keith fay: you are for it now Keith, you have drawn the William on you. Check out my interaction with him below, more fool me for responding to him.
Donegal has red warning, but Tyrone and Derry have amber warning. Must be handy to just cross the border until storm is over.
@Patrick MC Dermott: Perhaps the whole globe can be included in the red warning thus ensuring that nobody feels left out.
@Patrick MC Dermott: Where should the line be drawn??
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: Around Tullaghan, would be a good spot
Why is that dude wearing a crop top?
@Tom O: You shouldn’t be assuming that dude’s gender in this day and age. Cop on to yourself!
Would journos at the Journal please stop using the phrase “kick in”? There are lots of other, less crude ways to transmit the same piece of information.
@Max: Force entry?
@Max: “journo” is a slang word from england. Only pointing it out because we know how offended you get by English words
@biggybald: Trespass?
Proper Mother-In-Law weather as it’s know down here..
Fair windy lads
@BaldwinIV: Oh my sweet lord – have we seriously reached that level of non-intellect. Vote no to a constitutional referendum on the place of a woman in the home because migrants…
You have to be taking the Michael because it’s not possible to be that dim.
Them two boy’s look like they’re surveying the damage after crashing their time machine.
His own bomb lol
Save the clock tower!
Hopefully it will be nice and sunny when it passes over tomorrow
Looks like Andrew Porter in the photo facing into a scrum with that clock
Got windy here in Galway… it’s blowing over now….
The Ronnie onslaught is happening again!
@William Slevin: ah, the bigot has another account
@Denis Ryan: Anyone need the lotto numbers, my prediction skills are off the hook.
@ establishment loyalist fascist Dennis Ryan:
Easy to predict when as usual your part of the same harresment campaign against that has been noted by other users on here…
@ establishment loyalist fascist Dennis Ryan: What sexual references would these be dennis, that fact I called out Brian on his degeneracy where he keeps going after other users repeatingly saying trump fancys his own daughter and says worse…or is that I called out robert weaponising homosexuality an entire group of peoples sexuality to make attacks against ron de santi…your a complete dishonest joke now…and you are becoming liably dangerous making such implications about sexual references…
You crossed the line in lying in such a serious way dennis…
@William Slevin: lol the ghost is back but for how long. Never reported any of your interactions with me, I’m a big boy and choose to reply. Different story when you insult other people though. I’ll soon be talking to myself again ;)
@William Slevin: you were banned but back you came. Only one habitual line crosser here. Awfully concerned about people in the middle East but only if they stay over there, I see you are banging on about immigration again on an article about cancelled flight. Reminds me of the Simpsons “old man shouts at clouds”
@Injustice Cop: What ‘opportunity’ is there for a news outlet to allow all the conspiracy nuts, racists and general loolaa’s to have a free for all in the comments section?
Nobody will want to advertise to that demographic (look at the losses X is making) – there’s no opportunity’
The real problem you lads have is that you are convinced that what you have to say is so important that the world is dying to hear ‘the real trutch’ – the reality is that it’s all utter nonsense and nobody is interested.
That Felicity McKenna, I like the cut of his jib!
Lucky no one was clocked……
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