The case of the Galway family who were tied up and held at gunpoint in a so-called 'tiger raid on their home in Lackagh-Turloughmore on Sunday night goes to demonstrate how vulnerable we all are as we go about our daily routines.

So preoccupied have we all become with keeping our jobs, keeping our businesses afloat, keeping money in our pockets, house prices, bank shares, bank dealings with other banks. and so on that we forget that more immediate and actual physical dangers beyond our control are lurking around ever corner, ready to pounce when we least expect it.

Such must have been the case for the Flynn family on Sunday night as they went about their normal Sunday night routine, probably putting children to bed, preparing uniforms for the next day, sorting out schedules for the week ahead.

Thankfully, not many of us will know what it is like to have five men break into our homes, armed and willing to put our lives and our families’ lives at risk for the sake of taking whatever money we have on the premises.

High praise must go to the fast-thinking and acting grandmother, who alerted the gardaí to the developing situation and, of course, to the gardaí themselves who risked their own well-being to come to the aid of the family and confronted the gang members.

While the family will have to live with the trauma of the attack on their security for years to come, but for the gardaí they might be facing much worse.

And it is credit to the gardaí that three of the men have now been arrested, with detectives and gardaí across Galway searching for the two remaining gang members.

While attacks of this nature are not a common occurrence, raids on business premises in particular do seem to be an increasing phenomenon locally, with three bookies raided in the past fortnight and a raid on a city centre jewellers late last year. A member of staff in An Púcán was attacked under similar circumstances last year.

As demonstrated by the Flynn case, the gardaí have done and continue to do their part in bringing those responsible to bear for their actions. The courts must now ensure that the full rigours of the law are brought to bear on those who commit such atrocities.

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