PSNI continues to search Co Tyrone properties

Police investigating the £26

Police investigating the £26.7 million sterling Northern Bank robbery are still searching a number of properties near the Co Tyrone village of Beragh.

Two properties, a scrap yard and a duck pond were searched last night.

Ground belonging to brothers Liam and Damien Donnelly at Roscavey was also dug up. No money has been found and no arrests made.

Damien's son Michael hit out at the police action. He claimed: "They have damaged my character and my family's character in every way and the whole thing is just total nonsense."

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An adjoining scrapyard was also searched as part of the police operation. Neighbours of the Donnelly family insisted they had no republican connections.

A number of houses in west Belfast were searched in the aftermath of the massive city centre robbery just before Christmas.

Damien Donnelly said he was furious with the behaviour of the police. He told the new Daily Irelandnewspaper: "We didn't expect anything like this and I feel very disappointed about what happened.

"I'm very angry that we've been targeted. To relate my business to the bank robbery is utterly wrong. The PSNI appears to have a number of teams designated for specific searches, but there were no arrests. There wasn't even any talks of arrests."

Sinn Féin has expressed anger at the search, with the party's MLA for the area, Mr Barry McElduff, claiming there was a direct link between the searches and the publication today of the with the International Monitoring Commission (IMC) report into the robbery.

The party's Mr Pat Doherty MP, insisted the searches were part of a campaign against republicans.

Sinn Féin said the families involved told them they had nothing to hide, and the party accused the police of timing the searches to coincide with the IMC report on the robbery to be published later today.

Mr Doherty claimed the searches were part of a campaign against republicans. "It has nothing to do with the Northern Bank robbery and everything to do with intimidating and harassing the nationalist community.

"No doubt it will eventually end - as all of their other searches relating to this robbery have - in complete failure."