A city bar manager is said to be deeply shocked and traumatised after being held at gunpoint in a robbery earlier this week. Three men wearing balaclavas and carrying an array of weapons, including a gun and a machete, forced their way into the man's house at Gort na Glaise on Sandy Road at 3am on Monday morning, before tying him up alongside the other five occupants of the house.

After obtaining the key to the An Pucan pub on Forster Street and the code of the alarm, the men travelled to the pub and stole a considerable amount of money, thought to be in the region of &euro20, 000. They had fled the scene before Gardai were alerted.

Speaking to the Galway Independent yesterday, license owner Michael Pearl said he had locked up the bar with the manager prior to the attack and everything had seemed as normal.

"Having large amounts of money on the premises, robbery would be something we would have feared in the past but that night was the same as any other. I had locked up with Mark and we had a chat at the door. Then afterwards, he went up to get a taxi from the Prospect Hill area. They must have followed him home and forced their way in shortly after that," he explained.

"He is very traumatised after the attack and moved out of the apartment straight away. We are just hoping now that these people can be found but unfortunately the CCTV evidence didn't show much because they used flashlights. We had built up a fine, busy establishment so this is a big blow."

Gardai have since issued a description of the three men involved and appealed for anyone with information to come forward. The first man is said to be between 5ft 10" and 6ft. He was wearing a black balaclava, grey hoodie and black/dark clothing, with white and green gardening gloves.

The second man was of the same height and wore a black hoodie, dark gloves and a balaclava. He carried a gun, possible a rifle and appeared to be the leader, as he issued instructions to the other men.

The final man is described as being "very fat" and wore a navy hoodie and tracksuit bottoms with dark gloves and a balaclava. He carried a machete with a cream coloured handle.

Anyone who may have witnessed the robbery in the Forster Street area between 2.45am and 4am, or noticed anything suspicious in the Sandy Road area is urged to contact Galway Gardaí on 091-53800.

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