There was widespread shock and revulsion in Kilkenny yesterday as news of the death of Alan Cunniffe spread through the city, writes Michael Parsonsin Kilkenny.
Dr Joseph Sweeney, a GP from the John's Green Medical Centre, just feet way from where Mr Cunniffe was gunned down, said: "I'm here 30 years and I've never come across a shooting in Kilkenny before."
In John's Green, a small square close to the railway station and just yards from John Street, one of the city's busiest thoroughfares, the lights on the Centra supermarket were dimmed by mid-afternoon. News had come through from St Luke's Hospital that Mr Cunniffe (32) had died just hours after being shot in the stomach.
Throughout the afternoon and evening gardaí were on duty at a number of locations, at John's Green, Wolfe Tone Street and along the banks of the river Nore at the Peace Park close to Green's Bridge where a man was apprehended by gardaí.
There was an outpouring of emotion from shoppers and local residents for the deceased man and grief and sympathy for his family. One shocked resident of Wolfe Tone Street described Mr Cunniffe as "a total gentlemen"; another said that "he was a very nice fellow who would stand on his head for you".
Mr Cunniffe was at work in the family-run supermarket next door to the sub-post office on John's Green. When he was alerted to the robbery shortly after midday he chased the gunman.
He followed the man down Wolfe Tone Street, a quiet road lined with houses on one side and the Padmore & Barnes shoe factory and shopping outlet, as well as a busy medical surgery on the opposite side.
About a hundred yards from the post office, the gunman stopped, turned and shot him in the stomach. A number of witnesses said the gunman was "of Chinese appearance".
The man then continued to run down Wolfe Tone Street, discarding a grey jacket en route and entered a small green area, known as the Peace Park beside the river Nore.
Shortly afterwards, a man was arrested beside Green's Bridge.
A woman who lives on Wolfe Tone Street, who did not wish to be named, said she had heard a commotion outside her house and then heard a man shout, "I'm shot". She was one of many who called the emergency services and said gardaí and an ambulance arrived quickly at the scene.
Mr Cunniffe was shot just feet away from the John's Green Medical Centre and two of the GPs on duty, Dr Joseph Sweeney and Dr Frank Chambers, attended to him on the pavement. They managed to stabilise Mr Cunniffe before he was transferred by ambulance to St Luke's Hospital.
In a statement on behalf of "everyone in An Post" last night, chairwoman Margaret McGinley and chief executive Donal Connell said they were "shocked and horrified by the savagery of this criminal act".
The statement added: "Postmasters and their staff play an integral role in the lives of Irish people, and their safety and that of our customers is at all times our primary concern."
Local residents said that the post office on John's Green had been "robbed a number of times" in the past. No one else was injured in the raid although An Post said that staff at the post office had received medical attention.
Tom Hickey, who had been working in the post office earlier yesterday but had finished his part-time job and left the premises by 11am, said he was "in a state of shock.