In this film we see once again many different types of families. These range from those of the IRA, to friendships and brotherhood, to the family of Tom O'Meara. It is hard to say that a man or woman are anything without the support from those around them and people that care for them. People rely on one another and hope to count on those that they trust. Yet, when something attempts to take away that bond from a person it is likely to start a war that only has one outcome.
In the case of Tom O'Meara and his family we see a close-knit family that represents an average family that has a large level of love, trust, and respect. Tom is a good cop who knows what is best for his family and what is best is for him to stay alive. There are a few instances in this film that show Tom reconsidering his position because of the danger that it causes and the possibility of losing his family. Similarly, he is frozen in terror when the masked men hold his wife as a hostage for a moment. He would rather lose his own life than risk that of his wife and daughters. As a family man he cannot allow anything to step between him and those he protects and this is shown when he is forced to take down Frankie. He does not want to hurt him but is left with no choice because he put Tom's family in danger, killed his partner, and destroyed the man that Tom thought Frankie was even though it was just an act. Family is the reason why Tom lived and Frankie died, he had something higher to live for in the end.
Your points about Tom's honesty, his care for his family, and his sense of right is good. I think you need to do more with the last scene in the novel when Frankie/Rory and Tom, both wounded, clasp hands.
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