Family threatened as armed burglars burst into their home

Belfry Gardens

A local family suffered a terrifying ordeal in an aggravated burglary last night when three men burst into their home armed with hammers.

The robbery happened in the Belfry Gardens estate at around 8pm when the father of the house, who runs a restaurant, answered a knock on the door.

When he opened the door three men forced their way into the man’s home.

Once inside the raiders brought the couple’s three children, aged 16, 12 and ten, from upstairs and held them in the kitchen.

Meanwhile, their parents were brought to an upstairs bedroom where the raiders demanded money.

After locking the couple in a bedroom the raiders escaped with a sum of money believed to be between €2,000 and €3,000.

They drove away in a white Citroen Berlingo van.

All of the three raiders had their faces covered and wore gloves.

Gardai in Dundalk are investigating the incident and appealing for any witnesses or anyone with information to come forward.

Talk of the Town understands that the family who were victimised are the Wan family, with father Tim well known as the manager of the Jade Garden restaurant in Park Street.

Source: The Irish Independent

New taxi ranks open in Dundalk

The days of parking on Park Street could be over.

A new taxi area has been set up outside stores such as Brendan Reid’s and the Jade Garden restaurant.

The new rank is only a temporary one for use between 10pm and 6am Monday to Sunday but will limit the number of available spaces in an area that is quite busy at night due to the number of people dining in restaurants and popping in and out of take aways.

In total 17 spaces have been taken up with the new rank coming into use last night.

A similar situation now exists in Francis Street where 12 spaces have been allocated from 5pm to 6am Monday to Sunday.

The existing rank in Crowe Street, comprising 10 spaces, will also remain.