BREAKING: Gardaí close to making breakthrough in botched Longford raid

Investigations into the circumstances behind a break-in at Edgeworthstown restaurant Bia Deas in February have been ongoing ever since.

During the incident, which occurred during the early hours of February 6 last, an attempt to tamper with the business' alarm system alerted both the owner and gardaí who arrived on the scene a short time later.

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Speaking exclusively to the Leader at the time, the restaurant's owner Seamus Gilchriest was forced to forego a day's takings and undertake a substantial clean up operation after a rear window was forced in by what gardaí believe was a sole male intruder.

"He (thief) tried to disarm the cameras and didn't realise we had a separate Eircom Phonewatch alarm which alerted us and the guards," he said.

Now, over seven months on detectives believe they are close to making a major breakthrough in the case, the Leader can reveal.

"A burglary occurred at a premises on 6th February, 2022 in Edgeworthstown, Co. Longford," said a garda spokesperson. 

"Investigations are ongoing into this matter.  No arrests have been made but gardaí are following a definite line of inquiry."

For more on this story, see next week's Longford Leader.