Armed robbery, spate of burglaries

Gardai around the county are appealing for information on an armed robbery, five break-ins and the theft of a safe.
On Friday, some time between 10.30pm and 11.45pm a number of individuals entered a pub in Butlersbridge by forcing a window open.
The group then lifted a safe, which contained cash and jewellery and escaped through the same window. CCTV footage is being reviewed by gardai and Cavan Garda Station is on (049) 436 8800.
On the same night, three houses in the Belturbet area were broken into at Staghall, Kilicar and Rafian and tools were taken from all three.
At 8pm, on Saturday night a woman returned to her home in Drumbarian, also Belturbet, to find two men dressed in dark clothing leaving her home.
Nothing appears to have been taken as a result of the break-in and the pair made their escape in a dark car that then went in the direction of the Border.
Gardai are appealing for information and Ballyconnell Garda Station is on (049) 952 5580. Then, on Sunday, a woman was held up at knife-point at a Kingscourt filling station as it was about to close at around 8.45pm.
Gardai say a large bread-knife was used to threaten the woman who was forced to open the til. The male is described as wearing a black balaclava, a white hoodie, blue jeans and white runners, speaking with an Irish accent and being of medium build. He is believed to have taken a couple of hundred euro and left on foot, going in the direction of the Shercock Road in the town. Bailieborough Garda Station is on (042) 969 4570 while Kingscourt is on (042) 966 7292.

Policing corridor
The rash of crimes over the weekend come as Cavan TD Joe O’Reilly is a delegate to the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, which held a discussion on Border-type crime and was addressed by both Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan and Chief Constable George Hamilton.
Speaking at the session Deputy O’Reilly said illegal trade threatened local legitimate retailers and public health.
The deputy asked the commissioner for a response on the mooted creation of a Border corridor to be policed by both An Garda Siochana and the PSNI.
Commissioner O’Sullivan said she saw merit in a Strategic Oversight Committee to run any “pursuit corridor” of policing but could see oversight issues arising.
The commissioner also gave assurances that there would be no diminution of service to Cavan due to focus on the Border.
Deputy O’Reilly stated: “I am impressed by existing co-operation between An Garda Siochana and the PSNI and the determination of the Commissioner and Chief Constable to build on that.”