PICTURES: Limerick gardai go the extra mile to bring new patrol car to Cian's home

IT’S NORMALLY bad news when the gardai come to your door with sirens blazing, put you in the back seat and drive off but it made Cian Browne Vaughan the happiest boy in county Limerick.

Mike Vaughan and Ellen Browne, Effin, and their youngest son drove all the way to Donegal to see one of the newest vehicles in the garda roads policing fleet - Nexus Type-R Golf - but missed it by a whisker.

Gardai had seized the high-powered Volkswagen during an operation that uncovered large volumes of illegal drugs. It is now used for road safety education.

Cian, 7,  who has autism, loves everything about the gardai after a chance meeting a Cork-based garda Pat Hartigan in McDonald’s.

“That started his love of the guards and now our lives are taken over by the gardai! I got him a little garda uniform and a bike in Smyths. He has the proper tie and a clip that they put on. 

“He has a notebook and goes around to all the garda stations to get his book stamped. We don't go on days out - we go to garda stations! If we hear of a garda event, we're at it. 

“We went down to the miniature railway in Clonakilty during the summer and called into four garda stations on the way home,” smiled Ellen, who has four older children Michael, Clodagh, Caoimhe and Danny.

Ellen spotted that the Nexus was going to be at an event in Donegal so Mike, herself and Cian set off but unfortunately they missed it by half an hour.

Ellen spoke to one of their local guards - Niall McInerney -  to try and find out when the Nexus would be in Limerick next as Cian couldn’t wait to see it. 

Niall put them on to Henry Street and Ellen got a call back from Inspector Padraigh Sutton to say they were bringing the car to them after hearing their story.

“I was in shock. We didn't think that they'd do something like that for us,” said Ellen. 

Insp Sutton texted them later to say Sergeant Aoife Bannon and Garda Sarah Durack would be bringing out the Nexus and less than 24 hours later they were pulling up outside the house in Effin. 

“Cian doesn’t like surprises so they kept in touch with us to let us know what time they would be coming at.  They were doing this off their private phones. It was just love for a child,” said Ellen. 

Sergeant Bannon and Garda Durack arrived in the Nexus and collected Ellen and Cian.

“They had the siren blaring, lights on, the whole lot. They took him to Kilmallock and bought him sweets and a drink. They stopped a car and gave him this thing to put out the window that he could direct traffic with. They did not turn off the siren once through the town and told Cian to wave at everyone. 

“They made him feel so special. I've never seen him smile as much,” said Ellen.

The proud mum  said Cian is still on a high after the two hour visit from the gardai 

“He fell asleep that night wearing a beanie hat that Sarah gave him. It comes off for a few minutes when he gets too hot and it's back on again. 

“He says the girl gardas do a better job than the boys,” said Ellen, who thanked Insp Sutton, Sgt Bannon and Garda Durack for going “above and beyond”. 

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The thoughtful young man even insisted on going to Krispy Kreme to get doughnuts for the gardai to enjoy with a cuppa to say thank you.

To see and read more about the visit, log onto gardainsta_limerick on Instagram and the An Garda Siochana Limerick page on Facebook where local gardai share news, safety messages and information on upcoming events.

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