Neighbours stunned by Cork raid

AT least three motorists brought their cars to a stop yesterday morning as they sailed through the Mount Oval estate on the outskirts of Cork city, and proceeded to capture the scene on their camera phone.

It was a vista which included Garda tape and TV vans, indicating that life had deviated from the normal course of events. Friends and neighbours of the O'Donovan family were peering suspiciously through their curtains and feeling understandably shocked and nervous about the events of the previous night.

The O'Donovan house on Dewberry in Mount Oval looked fresh off the plans, while a child's scooter was parked next to the front door. A Seat people carrier and an Audi were parked in the driveway.

The neighbours' cars came and went, but with Garda door-to-door inquiries and the chronology of the previous hours slowly coming to light, it was anything but quotidian.

Glasgow native John Smyth, who lives across the green, was among those taken aback by the events of Monday night and Tuesday morning.

"You wouldn't think that it could happen up here," he said, adding that Gary O'Donovan was "well fixed, but he's not a flash guy."

Denise O'Connor, originally from Newry, moved into her new home across the street from the O'Donovans just two weeks ago. They certainly didn't expect to wake one night to see Gardaí collaring two men in front of their new home.

"My husband got up because he heard a noise," she recalled. "They had someone on the ground here," she explained, pointing at the tarmac outside her driveway. "We noticed the Gardaí and the plain clothes, so we knew it was quite serious."

A few doors up, mother of three Ann Louise French said she thought the early hours commotion was the result of noisy teens coming home from a party. She was disabused of that notion when she opened her curtains.

"A couple of Gardaí had them and were questioning them," she said. "We're all so close to each other here but no one seemed to hear anything."

Esther Galvin, who has lived in the estate for four years, was another who heard the din. "It's shocking for Katie," she said, referring to Gary's wife who is six months pregnant. "It must have been horrendous for them to endure that kind of treatment and it's shocking for other people in the area that this can happen on your doorstep."

For Jane O'Sullivan, who is not only a friend of the O'Donovan's but who is also helping Katie through her pregnancy at the Ballinlough Clinic where she works, the scene that took place outside her door at 3am was "amazing."

As with others in the area, she was quick to hail Gary who she knows from her schooldays for managing to escape and contact the Gardaí .

"He was very brave, but I suppose you'll do anything under such circumstances," she added.