A search was under way yesterday for two raiders who held up two branches of the Bank of Ireland in Meath and Westmeath, writes Elaine Keogh. No one was injured but gardai said the men were armed with guns and they suspect the same two men carried out both crimes.
Just after 2 p.m., two men wearing motorcycle helmets entered the Bank of Ireland in Athboy. One carried a sawn-off shotgun, the other a handgun. Staff were forced to hand over around £3,000 in cash.
They left the village in a maroon-coloured BMW car which gardai say was stolen at Dublin Airport on Monday. Just over half an hour later, two men matching the description of the raiders entered the Bank of Ireland branch in Castlepollard and held up staff. They escaped with an undisclosed sum.