A TENSE standoff was continuing last night between gardai and an armed man who had earlier shot three people at a Co Cavan farm.
The cottage, near Bawnboy, Co Cavan, remained surrounded by armed officers as negotiations continued between gardai and the man, a German national, barricaded inside the building along with his elderly mother.
Contacted by telephone, the man said that his mother had died and that it was "too late". This claim could not be confirmed last night.
He told The Irish Times that he had contacted the press and RTE over the past few months about his situation. "Nobody was interested," he said.
"This could have been avoided," he continued, "but the press said libel here, libel there.
it's too late. My mother is dead. Go to hell." He then put down the telephone.
As of late last night there was no sign of a breakthrough in the siege as the Garda's trained negotiators continued to talk to the may by telephone.
Shortly before 11 p.m. Supt P.J. Browne said: "The situation is still quite volatile, but we are hopeful of an early resolution." His negotiating team had "built up a good rapport" with the man. His only new demand had been for cigarettes, which were sent in to him.
Supt Browne said he was prepared to let negotiations continue through the night. "He can take a rest for an hour or an hour and a half if he wants and then we will talk to him again," he said. He said the man's mother was ill and was confined to bed and that gardai had not spoken directly to her.
"There is no prospect of us going near the house unless we are invited to it by the gentleman. He need not be fearful. We do not want to harm him or hurt him in any way," Supt Browne said.
The man, who has not been officially named, is believed to be Mr Gerrit Isenborger, in his 40s and living in the area for about three years. He is armed with a rifle and a shotgun.
Gardai have sealed off roads around the building and have two ambulances on standby.
The three men injured during the shooting, which took place in the early afternoon, were said to be in a "comfortable" condition at Cavan county hospital. One is Mr Tommy Owens, the Cavan county sheriff, who had come to the cottage with two assistants and three gardai to enforce an eviction order when the incident began.
At about 12.40 p.m., Mr Owens and his two assistants, accompanied by two uniformed and one plainclothes garda in a separate vehicle, approached the house at Ballyleenan. The sheriff and his assistants walked to the open door of the house and as the gardai were getting out of their car, they saw a man emerge from the house and then disappear inside again.
A few moments later the man emerged with a rifle and opened fire with a volley of shots. Mr Owens was hit in the shoulder and his two assistants, one of whom was named locally as Mr Paul Comiskey, were hit in the legs.
The three injured men were said not to have life threatening injuries.
At about 1.30 pm. the man fired a further volley of shots from a window of the building.
As negotiations began it emerged that the man was in dispute with the owner of the farm where he lived, an Austrian national named Mr Michael Hehle, who is also believed to be his employer.
Mr Owens, who is also county registrar, previously led the team which enforced an eviction order at the An Grianan farm near Letterkenny, Co Donegal last year.