AN 87 year old woman endured an terrifying incident when a gang burst onto the premises of her shop and terrorised her before making off with an amount of cash.

The brave lady managed to stumble across to a neighbour's house to raise the alarm. She was not harmed physically, but was described as shaken and shocked.

But she was defiantly back in business the next day as the robbery provoked great anger among her family and friends.

A relative told 'the only reason for the sweet shop is that she runs it for the children,' describing the robbers as 'a crowd of heartless bastards.'

'She loves seeing the children coming in and knows all the children,' a neighbour said.

Gardai are appealing for witnesses to the incident which took place on Thursday last at around 12.30pm.

The woman, who operates a sweet shop in the front room of her house at Lennon Melia Terrace, Armagh Road, was home alone when the three man gang entered the premises.

One of the men jumped across the counter causing the women to fall onto a sofa. He held his hand over her mouth, telling her to keep quiet while the other two ransacked the house.

A garda spokesman said that although the woman was not assaulted, she was terrified as a result of the burglary.

One of the men was described as tall, with black hair, thin build, and most likely in his 20s. The other two men were smaller, and younger looking

Gardai are asking anyone who may have seen a northern registered blue Mercedes which was seen in the area around the time of the incident.

Anyone who has any information should contact Dundalk gardai on 042 93 35577 or on the confidential telephone line 1800 666 111.