Gardaí have arrested a man in his sixties in connection with an incident last night in which a helicopter crash landed next to a pub in Longford.

It's understood it was trying to land on a narrow grassway between the Rustic Inn Bar in Abbeyshrule and the Royal Canal.

Two men miraculously escaped uninjured but significant structural damage was caused to the bar.

The man is being held at Longford Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.

14-year-old Ciaran Doyle witnessed the crash and called the emergency services.