At around half past 12 last night Gardai in Sligo received a telephone call of suspicious activity at a house around two miles outside Sligo town on the Strandhill Rd locally known as Scardenmore.
On arrival they noticed damage to a patio door and found a man in his 30's in the house carrying a firearm.
The man discharged the firearm in the direction of the Gardai, forcing officers to retreated and request assistance of further units to attend the scene.
The Regional Response Unit arrived a short time later and the man discharged further shots at which point Gardai returned fire.
The man barricaded himself into the house – which is believed to be the family home- no other family members were present at the time.
A critical incident was established with trained hostage negotiators on scene.
A number of houses nearby were evacuated with the main Sligo to Strandhill rd closed during the incident.
The man exited the house at around half past one this afternoon – 13 hours after the incident began.
He was arrested under section 30 Offences Against the State Act and is currently detained at Sligo Garda Station.
A licensed shotgun was recovered and will now be subject to technical examination.
No one was injured during the course of this incident.
The area is still sealed off to facilitate a technical and ballistic examination.
