Damage to the one of the windows of the house. Photo: Doug O'Connor

Gardaí at the scene in Tallaght where the man barricaded himself inside a house before firing shots through the windows. Photo: Doug O'Connor

A man who barricaded himself into a house and fired a gun from inside up to 40 times has been arrested after finally being talked down by trained gardaí.

The drama began at around 3.30am yesterday morning when the man, named locally as Paddy Kinch, was involved in a domestic dispute at the house on Deerpark Square in Kiltipper, Tallaght.

His partner went to the local garda station to report an incident and, when gardaí called to the house, Mr Kinch, who is in his mid-40s, started firing randomly from a double-barrel shotgun. Local gardaí requested armed back-up and a tense stand-off began.

One local woman said Kinch could be heard shouting "I have enough ammo to last me a week" at gardaí when they asked him to give himself up.

Loud bangs were heard yesterday afternoon from beyond the garda cordon as the stand-off continued. Next-door neighbour Stephen Sinclair, who lives with his wife, Ann Marie, and their five-year-old son, said it all started at around 3.30am.

"I heard a noise, but didn't know what it was, then there was another," he said.

"Then I went out and there was gardaí behind a jeep, then more bangs. There was at least 30 shots during the night and then we asked gardaí to help us get out the back. We came out at 10.30 this morning," he added.

"This guy shot out the windows of the house from the inside. The frames and all are gone. We moved to the back of the house in case there might be some sort of shoot-out and we would be caught in the crossfire. That was our biggest worry," Mr Sinclair added.

Inside the cordon, fire tenders and an ambulance from Dublin Fire Brigade were visible. Gardaí co-ordinated the operation from a mobile command unit, and several members of different units, including the Emergency Response Unit, could be seen in talks around that vehicle.

A spokesman for the Defence Forces confirmed the Explosives Ordnance Disposal unit had been requested to attend at 9am but left the area some time later.

One man who lives on Deerpark Square said he heard gunfire.

"There were several shots, and a man was shouting as well. I did not know what was happening," said Isaac Igbinosun.

"It sounded to me like a double-barrel shotgun being loaded and discharged and then reloaded and discharged again," said another man.

Then, shortly after 4pm, there was a garda announcement that the man had been persuaded to leave the house without force.

"A man has now been arrested at scene. There have been no injuries, and a firearm has been recovered," said Supt Peter Duff from Tallaght Garda Station.

"Negotiations lasted a number of hours and have thankfully resulted in a successful conclusion. A number of shots were fired, but not directly at gardaí. The man came out unarmed, willingly in the end, and a firearm was later recovered."

Kinch, originally from Ballyfermot, is said to have been released from prison in recent months and has only lived at Deerpark for a few weeks. Neighbours said there had been several rows heard at the property recently.

Kinch, from Cherry Orchard Avenue, is known to gardaí as being involved in drugs and violence.

He is not involved in any major crime gangs or organised crime, but in 2007 he was sentenced to five years for robbing an EBS branch in Crumlin the previous year. The court heard that he carried out the crime with a knife, along with an accomplice.

Kinch has spent a significant portion of his adult life in prison and is looked upon as a volatile career criminal. He has more than 27 previous convictions.

Irish Independent