Gardaí defend shooting in Gort

Gardaí have launched an internal inquiry amid calls for a more public report on the use of a lethal weapon to injure the man.

Superintendent Kevin Donohoe, of the Garda Press Office, described the response as “graduated and proportional”.

He said: “When he (Mr Burke) was challenged and didn’t respond, a less lethal weapon was deployed.

“That didn’t disable him entirely and the officer fired one round from one of a number of sniper positions around the house to ensure that our cordon wasn’t breached.”

At about 5.50pm yesterday the man eventually responded to telephone contact from Garda negotiators. After some short exchanges, he entered into intermittent discussions from around 6.15pm.

As part of the negotiations he gave up one of his weapons, which was left outside the front door of the house and retrieved by a Garda officer, at around 7.30pm.

“That sign was positive,” said Mr Donohoe. “But just before 8.20pm, before he came out, he had ceased talking to our negotiator and I suppose, really, without warning he came out of the house.”

Green Party justice spokesman Ciaran Cuffe TD said questions needed to be answered about the effectiveness of the non-lethal bean-bag weapons and the use of a live round by a Garda sniper.

“Given that there may not have been independent witnesses, it may be appropriate for the Minister for Justice to direct the new Garda Ombudsman Commission to perform an investigation under Section 106 of the Garda Síochana Act 2005 and review the practices, policies and procedures used by the Garda Síochana in connection with this incident,” he said.

He 21-hour stand-off began late on Sunday night when Mr Burke's partner, a mother of three named locally as Mag Corless, left their home to stay with a friend nearby.

One shot was fired inside the man’s home and when gardaí arrived he fired at them a number of times, hitting two patrol cars and knocking out a street light.

The man was understood to have two legally-held shotguns.

The cul-de-sac was sealed off early yesterday morning, with neighbours in around 30 houses being evacuated. Another 20 houses were evacuated later.