This article is from page 1 of the 2006-10-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 1 JPG
A 21-HOUR siege which rocked the town of Gort came to a successful end last night as an armed man who had barricaded himself inside his home gave himself up.
Anthony Burke (40) had been locked into his home off Crowe Street in the town since shortly after 11pm on Sunday night, following a domestic dispute.
A stand-off ensued throughout the day yesterday (Monday), as gardaí attempted to coax the man out of the home.
He had been in contact with gardaí between 11pm on Sunday and 2am on Monday. However he subsequently cut all contact, but answered calls from trained garda officers at teatime yesterday, raising hopes of a breakthrough.
This materialised and the siege ended at 8.20pm last night, when he walked voluntarily out of his home.
A number of shots were discharged from one of two shotguns he legally held, before Mr Burke was disabled by a beanbag round – a non-lethal weapon introduced in the wake of the Abbeylara siege in April 2000 in which John Carthy was killed – fired by a member of the Emergency Response Unit, which had been deployed to Gort for the siege.
Mr Burke was injured, but not critically, and was taken to University College Hospital, Galway, just after 8.30pm.
The horrific drama unfolded after 11pm on Sunday, when neighbours alerted gardaí that shots were fired from Mr Burke’s house in the local authority housing estate just off the main road between Gort and Galway.
His partner, who is understood to be from Kinvara, and two children quickly left the house, while shocked neighbours – who initially thought the shots were Halloween fireworks – were evacuated and were accommodated at O’Sullivan’s Hotel nearby.
Several more shots were fired between 11pm and 2.30am and two garda patrol cars and street lighting were damaged, but no-one was injured.
After hours of avoiding contact with gardaí, he answered his phone just before 6pm and continued to negotiate in “meaningful discussions” with gardaí.
Locals in Gort welcomed the breakthrough after a tense day. Mr Burke was described locally as a “decent, normal man who is liked in the town.”
A large number of garda resources were drafted in yesterday, including the Emergency Response Unit, the dog unit and the air support unit, while gardaí from all over the Galway division were drafted into the south Galway town.