RUC officers fired a shot as they crossed the Border into the Republic yesterday while chasing a driver across fields. A 31year-old man was later charged with dangerous driving by gardai in Castleblayney, Co Monaghan.
The Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, and the RUC Chief Constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, have discussed the incident, and investigations were started on both sides of the Border. The chase started in Markethill, Co Armagh, where the driver of a white van was seen acting suspiciously by RUC officers. They tried to stop the vehicle but it was driven off before being abandoned near the village of Keady. A man took off across the fields, and RUC officers pursued him as he crossed the Border to the townland of Alsmeed, Castleblayney. "One officer discharged a firearm. No one was injured," an RUC spokeswoman confirmed.
"At this point it transpired the RUC officers had inadvertently crossed the Border, which is unmarked at that point. A Garda patrol detained one civilian and escorted the RUC officers back to their own jurisdiction." The Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman, Ms Nuala O'Loan, has been informed of the incident and will conduct one investigation. A Garda spokesman confirmed a shot was fired near the scene of the arrest. Whether it was fired while the officer was in the South had yet to be "fully established".