Fast and furious Lyre chase

THERE was terror in Lyreacrompane on Friday night as the remote mountain area exploded in a frenetic highspeed chase initiated by a car that suspiciously avoided a COVID checkpoint in Castleisland.

Locals said they were left even more frightened as it became evident one of the occupants of the car had ended up roaming the area on foot after the car was abandoned in Banemore, where another occupant of the car was arrested by fast-acting gardaí.

Up to ten garda vehicles gave chase from Castleisland, all the way over the Stacks Mountains and into Banemore, when the car evaded the checkpoint shortly after 7.15pm on Friday.

Residents say they are still in shock over the speed of the suspicious car in a quiet area at a time when many people would have been out walking the road. “It was shocking as we didn’t have a clue what was happening,” one eye-witness told The Kerryman. “I walk that road and had we been on the road that night we would have been killed. Our road is too narrow and is only fit for one vehicle.”

The thought of a fugitive on the loose exacerbated the fear. “I felt very unsafe as the man was around the place for a lot of that night,” they said.

“I could see the blue search lights in the mountain behind the house looking for him. There’s elderly people living in the area and we were afraid that someone would have called to them that meant harm.” Gardaí also brought that man to ground later that night.

Residents said they felt they should have received a ‘Community Text Alert’ to inform them of what was happening: “We should have got a Community Text to warn us of what was happening. After all, this is why we pay for it. We didn’t get a text alert until Saturday, and only after someone in the area had enquired. I feel it’s not good enough.”

Gardaí said they are continuing to investigate the matter and ask anyone with information to contact them.