Updated 8pm

A MAN HAS been charged and a second man is in garda custody in connection with a hostage situation in Cork in the early hours of this morning.

Gardaí were called to the scene at St Mary’s Avenue in Cork city at 4.45am and confirmed on arrival that it was a hostage situation.

A woman could be heard from an upstairs bedroom calling for help and the front door downstairs was barricaded from the inside with a couch.

A man was also shouting at gardaí from an upstairs window and a number of items were thrown at them from the window.

Hostage negotiators, fire brigade and ambulance personnel were requested and a cordon was put in place while gardaí and negotiators attempted to make contact with the man inside.

Shortly after 8am, members of the Regional Support Unit entered the house forcefully and arrested two men in their 20s. During the operation, a taser, pepper spray and flash bangs were deployed.

A man and woman, both in their 50s, were taken from the house to hospital for medical attention. Gardaí said their injuries were found to have been sustained before gardaí were made aware of the incident.

Both suspects were taken to Mayfield Garda station. One was charged and appeared before Cork District Court today. He was remanded to appear back in court this Thursday.

The other man remains in garda custody. The occupants of the house were all known to one another.

Gardaí earlier thanked the media for co-operating in facilitating a reporting blackout, which they said enabled the incident to be brought to a safe conclusion.

Comments are closed as an individual has been charged in relation to this incident.

- With reporting by Darragh Peter Murphy.

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