Tallaght locals assist Gardai in arrest of armed raider

By Mary Dennehy

LOCAL residents assisted gardai with the arrest of an armed raider who today attempted to rob the Post Office in Springfield before hitting the neighbouring newsagent, Valley News.

At around 2.15pm today (Thursday), a man in his thirties entered the Post Office in Springfield armed with a knife. 

However, the raider was unsuccessful in his attempt to rob money from the premises, so left the Post Office and entered the nearby Valley News – where he threatened staff for money.

Despite a number of people attempting to hold the armed raider, he managed to leave the scene with a small amount of cash.

However, quick thinking residents tracked the man as he made his way from the scene and he was picked up by gardai after a short pursuit.

Echo.ie understands that local officers have praised residents for putting themselves on the line and helping gardai to make a quick arrest.

A Garda spokesman confirmed to Echo.ie that the man is currently being detained in Tallaght Garda Station and is being questioned in relation to both raids.

Nobody was physically injured in the incident, which resulted in the Post Office closing its doors for the afternoon – causing disruption to many people who had arrived to collect payments.

However, the Post Office will re-open tomorrow morning at 9am.

Valley News was also closed for the afternoon.

Speaking at the scene, Fianna Fail councillor Charlie O’ Connor, who lives in Springfield, said: “Alongside impacting on local businesses, today’s incident has greatly impacted on members of the community who need to access the Post Office for benefits or to do business.

“There is an older population here in Springfield that would be very dependent on the Post Office and the Valley News, and both had to close their doors due to the robberies.”