Rooftop drama brings city area to a standstill

One of Dublin’s main thoroughfares was brought to a standstill for almost five hours yesterday as a distressed man threatened to jump from the roof of a six-storey building.

Gardaí eventually managed to talk the unidentified man down to safety but only after he had repeatedly terrified onlookers by moving back and forth to the edge of the roof and climbing onto a narrow ornate apex.

On numerous occasions he perched precariously on a single brick and appeared to ready himself to throw himself off, prompting desperate calls from the crowd below not to jump.