Armed man in Carlow fatal shooting described as having ‘fascination' with guns
The man who fired shots in a Carlow town shopping centre before taking his own life, was described previously in court as having a 'fascination' with firearms.
The description was made when he appeared before court on gun charges and was granted bail.
He had allegedly bought guns on the darknet, including a G3 Heckler & Kock machine gun, a Remington M1911 handgun and two types of ammunition, which were discovered during a Garda operation in Co Kildare.
Gardaí believed the man, who was in his early 20s, had purchased the guns for recreational reasons rather than any plan to carry out organised crimes.
READ MORE
However, that investigation into him and other suspects was significant in scale and involved Garda units that tackle serious crime, including the National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau and Emergency Response Unit.
When the man appeared in court last year, gardaí initially objected to bail. He was eventually granted bail subject to strict conditions.
The man who died in Carlow was still on bail pending his trial at the time of his death and had appeared in court last month for the latest hearing relating to his case.
He was the only person wounded in the incident at the Fairgreen Shopping Centre just after 6pm on Sunday, believed to have been carried out using a shotgun. Shoppers fled the scene after seeing him with the gun and firing a number of shots.
Garda Headquarters issued a statement on Sunday night confirming shots had been fired and a man had died. The statement said the deceased was a white Irishman.
Confirmation of the dead man's ethnicity and nationality was publicly shared by the Garda after some far-right social media accounts claimed the incident was carried out by a foreign man. Some far-right social media users also described the incident as a mass shooting with multiple victims wounded.
The decision to quickly confirm the nationality and ethnicity of a person of interest in events with a public safety dimension is becoming more common in international policing. It is being done in a bid to offset tensions and reduce the potential for violence stoked by some far-right actors based on disinformation.
There were concerns the dead man had a device, either explosive or flammable, on his person when he died. For that reason his body was left in situ overnight at the Carlow shopping centre pending an examination by Defence Forces explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) experts.
Early on Monday gardaí confirmed that work has been completed and the area has been declared safe, though a crime scene secure cordon remained in place at the shopping centre.
'The scene remains cordoned off while both the Garda Technical Bureau and the Office of the State Pathologist conduct examinations,' the Garda said, adding anyone with vehicles parked within the overnight cordon would be informed later in the day when they could collect them.
An incident room has been established at Carlow Garda station and a senior investigating officer has been appointed to lead the inquiry. A Garda family liaison officer was also appointed to provide support to the dead man's family.
The Garda investigation into the fatal firearms incident is ongoing. Anyone who recorded footage in or around the shopping centre between 6pm and 6.30pm on Sunday is asked to provide it to the investigation team.
Though a young girl was injured during the incident, she was not wounded. While the circumstances of her sustaining that injury were yet to be determined, she was treated at the scene before being taken home by family members. She did not require hospital treatment.
On Sunday night Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he was 'deeply shocked and saddened' at the shooting incident.
'My thoughts are with the families affected and the local community in Carlow after what was a very serious and traumatic incident. I urge anyone who has information to speak to the gardaí.'
Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan expressed his 'solidarity with those impacted' by the 'really shocking incident', which was 'something we never want or expect to happen in our communities'.
'Gun violence is very rare in Ireland, and I am determined that will remain the case,' he added. 'The area in Carlow is safe. We must now allow An Garda Síochána to investigate this incident fully.'
Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Simon Harris said he was briefed by Chief of Staff Lieut Gen Rossa Mulcahy about the assistance his Defence Forces personnel were providing to the operation.
He was 'thinking of' the young injured girl and her family, as well as 'all those who witnessed this situation and the awful shock and upset it must have caused them'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
‘I'm not even a bit stressed,' Honor goes, ‘I haven't done a focking tap for these exams'
Sorcha thinks we should maybe check on Honor and there's an air of definite excitement in her voice when she says it? Yeah, no, it's the night before the stort of the Leaving Cert and my wife is absolutely determined that this should be one of those mother-daughter moments. She goes, 'The Leaving Cert puts – oh my God – so much pressure on young people. But it's not the be-all and end-all. I read an orticle online about all the famous people who failed the Leaving Cert.' I'm there, ' I failed the Leaving Cert – in fairness to me.' She's like, 'I'm talking about people who went on to actually achieve things?' READ MORE And I'm there, 'Yeah, no, thanks for that, Sorcha.' 'I just remember that – oh my God – my Mom had this amazing, amazing talk with me the night before I storted mine ? She just said, you know, the importance of exams is, like, totally overblown and that the Leaving Cert shouldn't define you for the rest of your life.' 'That's easy for you to say. Didn't you get, like, maximum points?' 'Well, not quite maximum points? I got, like, a B in Honours English, remember?' How could I forget? Her old man spent years appealing it. I think the case was still trundling through the courts when she was pregnant with Honor. 'Come on,' she goes, 'let's go and talk to her,' and I follow her up the stairs to Honor's room. Sorcha knocks and she's like, 'Honor, dorling?' then she pushes the door and looks around it like she's sticking her head in a lion's mouth. Honor isn't studying. That's the first thing I notice. She's sorting through her wardrobe and taking photographs of herself in various outfits with one hand on her hip and her cheeks sucked in. Sorcha goes, 'We're sorry to bother you, Honor. We were just wondering how the study was going?' I don't know where she's getting this we from? Honor's like, 'It's going great – as you can probably see.' 'Well,' Sorcha goes, 'we just wanted to say that, even though it may seem like it now, the Leaving Certificate is not the be-all and end-all.' I'm there, 'I'm living proof of that, Honor.' But Sorcha's like, 'Why don't you leave the talking to me, Ross? What we're trying to say, Honor – and I'm echoing my own mother's words here – is that it doesn't define you as, like, a person ?' Honor's there, 'Why do I buy so many clothes in taupe? It looks so focking meh on me.' Sorcha goes, 'The important thing – as my mom famously said – is that you turn out a happy, well-adjusted girl with a fully functioning moral compass.' Honor's like, 'Does this top make my face look washed out? You can tell me.' [ Honor goes, 'I'm editing the school yearbook photographs of anyone who pissed me off' Opens in new window ] 'What I'm saying,' Sorcha goes, 'is that our results-focused secondary education system sometimes forgets that schools have a role to play in preparing young people for life and not just exams.' 'I hate all my focking clothes.' 'I was just thinking back to my own Leaving Cert – wasn't I, Ross? At the time, I thought it was the most important thing in the world. But if you were to ask me what did I get in, say, Maths or History now, I'd have to actually rack my brains.' 'Didn't you get As in everything?' Honor goes. I'm like, 'Except English – and her old man spent eight years in the courts trying get her B upgraded.' Honor gives her one of her crocodile smiles and goes, 'So much for results not being important. Anyway, for your information, I'm not even a bit stressed?' I'm like, 'Oh, that's good – isn't it, Sorcha?' And Sorcha's there, 'Er, yeah – I suppose it is.' 'As a matter of fact,' Honor goes, 'I haven't done a focking tap for these exams.' And I'm like, 'I'm going to say fair focks to you, Honor. I think I speak for both of us when I say you've put our minds at ease. Come on, Sorcha, let's leave her to it.' But Sorcha's mind isn't at ease? Outside on the landing, she goes, 'What do you think she meant when she said she hasn't done a tap?' I'm there, 'Excuse me?' 'Like, did she mean it in the same way that I used to say it? Look, I'm not saying I was a secret studier – which is what all the girls used to say about me – but I was, like, naturally bright and I had an amazing, amazing memory.' 'Again, fair focks.' [ Honor is staring at Brett like he's an ATM and she's sitting in a JCB, trying to work the levers Opens in new window ] 'Or was she saying that she hasn't done a tap in the same way that – no offence, Ross – you didn't do a tap, as in, like, literally?' 'What does it matter? The important thing is that she's a happy girl with a fully functioning whatever-you-said.' 'Yes, Ross – but within reason.' 'Within reason?' 'I mean, it's also important that she gets into a good college. And into a degree course that's, like, high points.' 'But I thought you said–' 'Never mind what I said. What the fock is she doing in there?' 'I think she was questioning some of her 2024 wardrobe choices.' She goes, 'Did she even have a book open?' and before I can answer no, she bursts into Honor's room again, with no knock this time, and she's like, 'Why aren't you studying?' Honor goes, 'Excuse me?' Sorcha's there, 'You have an exam tomorrow! Where are your books? Where are your cog notes?' [ 'That picture The Last Supper is weird. They're all sitting on the same side of the table' Opens in new window ] Honor's like, 'I thought you said the Leaving Cert doesn't matter.' Sorcha goes, 'I didn't mean it literally doesn't matter. Oh my God, what happens in the next fortnight is going to shape the rest of your life, Honor! What are you going to do if you don't get into college? Stort an OnlyFans account? Live on the streets? Become a ketamine addict?' Honor looks her in the eye and goes, 'I have to leave the exam an hour early tomorrow. I have, like, a nails appointment?' Sorcha ends up totally flipping out and I have to put my orm around her shoulder and escort her out of there like my old dear being helped out of the prosecco tent at Bloom. She's like, 'You might be fine with having a daughter who fails her Leaving Cert, Ross, but I am not.'
Extra.ie
4 hours ago
- Extra.ie
Gardai to review Tina Satchwell and Michael Gaine investigations
The investigations into the murders of Tina Satchwell and Michael Gaine, whose bodies were not found during initial searches after their disappearance, will be reviewed. Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said that 'in hindsight' it may have been 'very obvious' where Mrs Satchwell's remains were secretly buried. Mr Harris said a report will be compiled and given to Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan on Ms Satchwell's disappearance, while the case of Mr Gaine is undergoing a peer review. Tina Satchwell. Earlier this week, Richard Satchwell was given a life sentence for the murder of his wife Tina at their home in Co Cork. The British truck driver, 58, had denied murdering his wife between March 19 and 20, 2017. The jury at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin reached the unanimous verdict last Friday after nine hours and 28 minutes of deliberations. Pic: An Garda Síochána Missing Persons Ms Satchwell's skeletal remains were found buried under the stairs of the couple's home in Youghal, Co. Cork, in October 2023, more than six years after her husband reported her missing. The house had been searched in 2017 but nothing was found. In a separate case, the remains of Mr Gaine, a farmer from Co. Kerry, were discovered in a slurry tank on his farmland in May, two months after he was reported missing by his wife. The farmyard had been previously searched as part of the investigation. Tina Satchwell. Speaking about the investigation of Ms Satchwell's disappearance, Mr Harris said the 2017 search did 'harvest' some 'huge information', which was 'crucial' in the re-examination of the case. Speaking at the Garda College in Templemore, Co. Tipperary, he said: 'The initial investigation was hamstrung because of the lack of information in comparison to the later re-examination of this matter. 'There's far more information to hand, which gave us real grounds then for actual suspicion and then inquiries that we could lead. Michael (Mike) Gaine. Pic: '[In] hindsight, some of these things can seem very obvious, but in the moment, what was known, what was being said in terms of sighting, what was being said in terms of the victim by her husband, and one has to recognise the victimology that was being applied here. 'The coercive control that obviously she was subject to for many years, her isolation in that particular community, that meant that there was very few other people that we could speak to [about] what Tina Satchwell's life was like. 'Yes, the house was searched in 2017. Forensic scientists also accompanied that search. It was subject to thorough examination and looked for blood splatter. None was found.' He said the initial investigation will be subject to a review. 'There are definitely lessons that we wish to learn from all of these homicides, where it's missing persons and then converts some time later to a homicide investigation.' He added: 'We've already reviewed all our missing person reports nationally. We found no other suspected homicide cases. 'Then following the Michael Gaine investigation, we're subjecting that to peer review, as I do think there's learning for us around those who would commit crime and then attempt to dispose of the body, and often are successful in disposing of the body,' he added.
Irish Times
5 hours ago
- Irish Times
The Irish economy grew by 22% over the past year. Yes, you read that right
Ireland's economic data was always going to be a bit special at the start of this year. But Thursday's figures were mind-bending. It is impossible to overstate the extent to which we now stand out in international comparisons. And this is not just a curiosity – it matters. The economy, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP) , was 22 per cent larger in the first quarter of 2025 than one year earlier, according to the latest estimates from the Central Statistics Office . Think about it. The figures suggest that for every €1 of activity last year, there was €1.22 in 2025. Even comparing GDP in the first quarter of this year with the last quarter of 2024, there is a rise of close to 10 per cent – this is roughly the extent of growth across the euro zone over the past decade. Of course this bonkers data is not real, in the sense that it does not reflect what is happening in the underlying economy in which we all live. How could it? As has been long discussed the headline economic data is entirely distorted by the activities and tax planning of a small number of very big US tech and pharma companies. From time to time, this has created huge distortions in the figures. A decade ago, top US economist Paul Krugman famously described a 26 per cent GDP growth rate reported for the Irish economy (later revised up to over 30 per cent) as 'leprechaun' economics . At the time the figures were distorted by massive tax-driven investments by the companies concerned, including Apple, essentially a manoeuvre by the companies involved to try to keep their tax bills down as international rules changed. READ MORE Now, as one observer put it, we are seeing another 'Krugman' moment. This time the reasons are different. Big pharma companies have been rushing product over to the US to try to get drugs and key ingredients into the market before Donald Trump announces tariffs on the sector. This has led to a surge in exports, feeding into the GDP data. Many of these are manufactured here – and some are made elsewhere but organised by Irish subsidiaries and so also show up in our figures. And so we see a massive surge in Irish GDP in the first quarter of this year. A big – temporary – decline in pharma exports in GDP will follow at some stage, as the firms involved must now have massive stocks jammed into every free warehouse in the US. Much will depend on how the tariffs story plays out. [ Welcome (back) to the era of Leprechaun economics Opens in new window ] Whether Krugman renews his leprechaun offensive or not, let's not pretend this won't be noticed. Ireland's GDP data is not some irrelevance in a quirky economic corner. The amounts of money being moved through Ireland are now enormous. Daniel Kral, chief economist at Oxford Economics , calculates that Ireland – which accounts for 4 per cent of the euro zone economy – accounted for half its total growth over the past year. Analysts have taken to looking at the figures 'excluding Ireland'. How do we pull back from all of this to judge the underlying health of the economy? Total demand in the domestic economy – adjusted by the CSO to remove the multinational factors - rose just 1 per cent over the year. But we need to look under the surface here, too. Consumer spending, a good measure of how we feel, was up by a decent 2.5 per cent. But the overall figure was dragged down by a fall in business investment, presumably reflecting the international uncertainty. So households continued to spend in the first part of the year, but businesses are taking a wait-and-see approach to big capital spending. This is likely to be reflected in the jobs market as the year goes on – and here AI is also changing the game in many sectors. Consumers may get more cautious too. Uncertainty is starting to slow the economy and this is a trend we need to watch as the year goes on. The piece of data that seemed a bit out of line this week was a 30 per cent fall in corporation tax in May compared with the same month last year. This was affected by the comparison with a strong May last year – which the Department of Finance suggests was boosted by once-off factors. Two of our biggest taxpayers, Pfizer and Microsoft – pay significant amounts of tax that month. But the key early indicator for most of the big companies is June – and what happens here will give a good pointer for the year as a whole. The figures do underline one point. It is our huge reliance on the opaque affairs of four or five massive companies – and our exposure to the sectors they operate in, their own performance and complex decisions on how their tax structures are set up. Our latest bout of data exceptionalism again puts Ireland in the spotlight, when it would have been better to keep the head down. It underlines the outsize take Ireland is getting from pharma and tech activity in the EU – both contentious points in the White House. Notably, the US added Ireland to an economic watch list this week, based on the size of our trade surplus. We are very much on the radar in Washington. Our corporate tax take and manufacturing base are looked on enviously not only from the US , but from elsewhere in Europe. [ 'No long-term commitments to anything' – Ireland's economy is experiencing a silent slowdown Opens in new window ] The advance shipping of products again focuses attention on the scale of activity and tax planning in Ireland by big pharma companies. And this causes a rollercoaster of cyclical activity. But what really counts is longer-term, structural issues. Will these pharma giants decide over time – and it would take years – to relocate some of their production to the US? Will their profits and thus tax payments here be hit by Trump's policies? Or will they – or some of the tech giants – alter their corporate structures so that they pay significantly less tax here? It comes down to whether Trump's policies change the way the economic and corporate world operates fundamentally, a fair bit or not much at all. As Ireland benefits from the current system so much, the more it changes, the more risks there are for us. The coming months will tell a lot.
