Cavan siege, Cavan Gardai
A man has been arrested
following an 8-hour armed siege in the Co Cavan town of Bailieborough last
night.
The 56-year-old man, who was
believed to be armed with a shotgun, locked himself into a local pub following
the violent death of a mother-of-four (56) whose body found dead earlier in her
home at Drumbannon on the outskirts of the town.
The major security operation
took place in the town where a large number of armed and unarmed gardaí were at
the scene close to the cordoned-off pub where the local man had barricaded
himself in to the basement.
The man was arrested at
about 3.30am and is in custody at Bailieborough Garda station under Section 50
of the Criminal Justice Act.
The events began to unfold
early yesterday evening when a local woman went to Bailieborough Garda station
and expressed concern for the safety of her sister after efforts to contact her
by telephone and by calling to her home were unsuccessful.
Gardaí went to the woman’s
home where they discovered her body.
Shortly after the discovery
was made, local gardaí began receiving reports that a man had gone in to the
centre of Bailieborough, armed with a shotgun.
The man had goen into the well-known local pub and restaurant
Nixy’s The Square Bar on Market Square. Those on the premises fled, according
to sources.
Siege
When local unarmed gardaí
responded to the reports of an armed man in the pub, they approached, but were
threatened and forced to retreat. The area was then sealed off and a siege
began.
People living in the town
centre were asked to remain in their homes during the incident and traffic was
diverted around the town.
Gardaí believed the man was
in the basement of the large licensed premises and they were working on the
theory that he was in the pub alone.
The man is well-known in the
area. He was known to the woman found earlier and gardaí were last night trying
to establish if the events were linked.
Three of the dead woman’s
four adult children live in Australia. Her youngest son was on a flight
yesterday morning to join his siblings in Austraia when news of his mother’s
death emerged. It is believed that he is now on his way back to Ireland.
Members of the Garda’s
highly-trained regional support unit attended the scene did were local
uniformed and armed gardaí.
A number of Garda personnel
trained to deal with siege incidents, including trained negotiators, had also
been drafted in.
Garda Headquarters at the
Phoenix Park in Dublin, requested a media blackout for fear the armed man in
the pub may have access to the internet, TV and radio and that his actions may
be influenced by any reportage of the siege.
The blackout was observed by
The Irish Observer.
A full postmortem is due to
be carried out on the woman’s body.
The house where she was
found and the pub have both has been sealed off d for a technical examination.
Gardai have appealed for
witnesses that may have been in the Drumbannon housing estate yesterday and may
have seen anything unusual or suspicious to contact the incident room at
Bailieboro Garda station 042-9694570, the Garda Confidential Telephone Line
1800 666 111 or any Garda station.
