Garda Supt Enda Walsh was last night hailed a hero after foiling an armed raid in his own town. Two armed men entered the Bank of Ireland at Main Street, Loughrea, at about 3.55pm yesterday and demanded money from a cashier.
Garda Supt Walsh was in the bank at the time. He immediately tackled a gunman and restrained him with the aid of local men.
He arrested the man, who was last night being questioned at Loughrea Garda station.
The second raider fled on foot and gardaí in Loughrea are looking for him.
A Garda spokesman warned the public not to approach him as he was armed. Anyone with information on his whereabouts was urged to contact Loughrea Garda station on 091-842870.
The man being sought is aged about 38 years, of average height, with tightly cut dark hair and a chubby face.
Gardaí believe he was wearing dark tracksuit bottoms over blue jeans. He also wore a blue puff ski jacket and a grey hoody over a blue-and-white striped shirt.
The man being detained is aged about 35 but gardaí declined to give a further description.
Meanwhile, in Dunboyne, Co Meath, yesterday a man armed with a knife escaped with a small sum of money after threatening staff and customers at a bank. The incident occurred at 11.25am, when the man entered an AIB branch on Main Street and held a knife to a customer's throat. He fled in a blue Toyota Yaris with an 02 Dublin registration, in the direction of Clonee and Dublin.
A Garda spokeswoman said the scene was sealed off yesterday. Nobody was injured.
Yesterday, the annual conference of the Irish Bank Officials Association (IBOA) heard calls for immediate action to prevent further so-called "tiger robberies", which involve the kidnapping of personnel with access to large sums of money, and attacks on bank staff and their families.
IBOA general secretary Larry Broderick said the Minister for Justice should establish a joint working group involving his department, the Garda and representatives of the banking and security industries.
"IBOA believes this body should have as its main remit an examination of practical measures that will enhance the security and safety of staff and their families," he said.
"It should be remembered that it is frontline bank staff whose lives and that of their families are being put in danger by the actions of criminals and the failure of security systems."