Gang sought after armed raid on pub

Armed gunmen tied up the owner and customers at a pub outside Mullingar in the early hours of Tuesday morning, March 10 - just days after break-ins at The Downs Roadhouse in Mullingar.And two days after a shop owner in Castlepollard confronted two men who had entered his premises, both believed to be armed.There have also, this week, been break-ins at a business premises in Kinnegad, and at a house in Castlepollard.Two men wearing balaclavas entered Gunning"s public house at 12.20am, one wielding a handgun and the other brandishing a baseball bat. They tied up the occupants" hands and legs with duct tape, and are believed to have disabled security cameras.A third man is unerstood to have been involved and in charge of a getaway car.The ordeal which is believed to have lasted up to two hours, saw the intruders get away with a large sum of cash. No occupants were injured.The break-in at The Downs Roadhouse happened on Sunday morning. Three raiders spent four hours attempting to break into a safe at the premises, but failed to get to steal the contents.The gang struck at the Downs Inn ten minutes after staff had locked the premises at 2.10am. on Sunday.The gang, who all wore balaclavas, disabled the alarm system by hooking a cable to it and dislodging it from the wall, entered the premises through the kitchen before making their way to the bar area. Having located the safe, which weighs in the region of two ton, they dragged it into the centre of the bar and set about attempting to break in.As they became more frustrated in their efforts, a number of dispenser units in the building were smashed, in an effort to the money. Having also ransacked the content of the till, the gang finally abandoned their efforts at about 6.10am before making their escape in a silver coloured car.This week, local detectives, who combed the premises for clues, were studying video footage of the entire incident in the hopes of uncovering the identity of the gang. At time of going to press there had been no arrests in relation to the incident.On Monday night, meanwhile, a business premises in Kinnegad was burgled, and a large quantity of cash and cigarettes were taken, between 4.20 in the morning and 5.45am.Elsewhere, a business premises in Delvin was broken into between the hours of 2.30 and 3am on Wednesday, March 4. Intruders entered the premises through the front door, setting off the alarm, before escaping with the cash register which contained a large sum of cash.On Friday, March 6, a private residence in Castlepollard was entered at quarter to one in the morning. The intruders took a sum of cash plus credit cards.The armed incident at the business premises in Castlepollard left the owner shaken, but the raiders left without obtaining anything from his premises.