GARDAÍ ARE questioning a man in his early 20s after a middle-aged farmer was wounded in a gun attack at his farm yesterday afternoon.
The injured man, Séamus O’Byrne (50), was wounded once in the upper body when he was shot by a man armed with a shotgun. The incident took place just before 4.30pm at Three Wells farm near Aughrim in Co Wicklow.
Gardaí believe the attack is linked to a personal matter and say it is not connected to gangland crime.
The man being questioned last night is a 22-year-old local man known to Mr O’Byrne.
Gardaí are trying to establish if Mr O’Byrne had become involved in a row with the suspect at his farm yesterday morning. They are working on the theory that Mr O’Byrne and the suspected gunman argued at the farm and that Mr O’Byrne then spent much of yesterday away from the area.
However, gardaí believe when Mr O’Byrne returned to the farm just after 4.15pm, the man he had earlier argued with was waiting, armed with a shotgun.
The gunman opened fire, wounding Mr O’Byrne once in the upper body just outside the farmhouse. Gardaí believe a second shot may have been fired.
The gunman then left the area in a tractor still armed with the shotgun. Gardaí were alerted by a third party who heard the shots.
A local doctor and the Garda’s new armed regional response unit sped to the O’Byrne farm. When gardaí arrived there was no sign of the gunman.
However, a shotgun had been discarded close to the farm. It was taken for technical examination by Garda ballistics experts.
Gardaí quickly identified a suspect in the case and contacted him by phone yesterday evening.
The man is believed to have spoken to Garda negotiators and members of his family on the phone.
He later agreed to be collected by a family member and be driven back to Aughrim, where he presented himself to gardaí.
The suspect was being held at Arklow Garda station last night under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act. He can be questioned for up to 72 hours without charge.
Mr O’Byrne was given medical treatment at the farm. He was then taken to St Vincent’s hospital in Dublin, where he was being treated for a gunshot wound.
He was described last night as very seriously ill but is expected to survive.
Mr O’Byrne’s home is an isolated two-storey semi-detached farmhouse down a long cul-de-sac about three kilometres from Aughrim village.
Gardaí last night sealed off the outhouses and the yard beside the house, which is one of a cluster of about five houses high in the Wicklow mountains.
Separately, gardaí in Co Monaghan questioned a man in his 50s yesterday over a shooting incident in Carrrickroe, Emyvale, Co Monaghan. On Monday a weapon was fired twice at a male in a family dispute at 6.30pm.
The man was arrested and taken to Monaghan Garda station where he was questioned about the incident and may be charged with “unlawfully discharging a firearm in a public place”.
It is understood the man was released on bail on Tuesday evening and that a firearm was confiscated by gardaí.
Nobody was injured. A file has been sent to the DPP.
Gardaí were also called to a shooting incident in Avoca, Co Wicklow, yesterday evening.
A firearm was discharged outside a premises near Avoca at about 5pm. Nobody was injured. Gardaí in Avoca are investigating.