A DUBLIN-BASED criminal gang is suspected of being responsible for two separate raids in Co Wexford yesterday in which a postmistress and her son were shot.
Three armed and masked men entered Oulart post office in Co Wexford yesterday morning between 9.30am and 10am. They demanded money from the safe and petty cash to be handed over.
Postmistress Chris Dempsey (66) and her son John (31) refused to hand over the money, although the raiders eventually got away with a small sum of cash.
They were hit by shots which ricocheted off the door and floor of the post office, hitting John, a musician, in the leg and his mother in the arm.
Investigating gardaí believe a three- or four-man gang that attempted to rob Seán Óg’s Hotel in Kilmuckridge hours earlier were behind the post office attack.
They are believed to have been armed with a sawn-off shotgun. The masked gang broke into the hotel at about 4.30am, tied up the night porter and threatened him at gunpoint.
However, when they were unable to obtain any cash, they were forced to flee empty-handed.
Five hours later, it is believed they returned to rob the post office, but were once again unsuccessful in obtaining a large amount of cash.
Two men in their 20s arrested in Courtown yesterday in connection with the hotel incident were being held at Enniscorthy Garda station last night.
Yesterday was children’s allowance day and would have been a busy day at the post office, but it is thought the gang only managed to obtain a few hundred euro. The safe was not taken.
The postmistress activated a panic button inside the post office after the shooting and emergency services and gardaí were quickly on the scene.
The pair were rushed to Wexford General Hospital. Their injuries are not life-threatening, but both will have to undergo surgery.
Local priest Fr John Jordan said: “What has happened has been a terrible ordeal for both of them, and shocked everyone.”
An elderly female customer who was in the post office during the hold-up escaped uninjured.
Garda sources believe a burnt-out Nissan car found on Teapot Lane, about a mile from the post office, shortly after midday yesterday was used in both raids. Another burnt-out car found in Gorey, 23km away, may also have been used in the raid.
Gardaí are also trying to establish whether a shotgun and ammunition stolen from a home in Bray, Co Wicklow, on Monday night may have been used in the shooting.
Det Supt Dominick Hayes from Waterford Garda station and Insp Pat Cody of Enniscorthy Garda station are co-ordinating the search for the raiders. All crime scenes have been cordoned off and Garda checkpoints were set up.
Gardaí are appealing for anyone who may have seen anything suspicious in the area to contact them.
Irish Postmasters’ Union general secretary Brian McGann called the raid on the Oulart post office “cowardly”, and praised the postmistress and her son for following the right procedures.
“Some might believe that a post office is an easy target. That is not the case,” he said.
“Security at post offices around the country is very, very tight both in terms of the equipment that is used and the procedures that are followed.”