Raiders who stole a cash-dispensing machine in Carlow yesterday were left empty-handed when they failed to break it open.
The "out-of-order" ATM was found abandoned in a field in Castledermot, Co Kildare.
Two or more men reversed a recovery truck through the wall of the Maxol service station on the O'Brien Road, Carlow, between 4 a.m. and 4. 30 a.m. It appeared that they used chains to pull the Ulster Bank ATM or the bricks surrounding it from the wall.
Yesterday morning, a pile of bricks and rubble and a big hole remained where the "hole-in-the wall" once stood. Business continued at the petrol station and shop, with customers pausing to look at the damage done.
A witness told gardaí he saw the recovery truck driving towards Castledermot with the ATM hanging off the back.
A search was mounted and the cash machine and truck were found abandoned in woodland at 8 a.m.
While the failed robbery had comical features, Carlow Chamber of Commerce said it was no laughing matter. Mr Gerry Dunne, the chamber's secretary who visited the scene, said "it was not a pretty sight" and serious damage had been done.
Mr Dunne said it was just the latest in a spate of crime to hit the town. Last year, Carlow suffered from several robberies by gangs travelling down from Dublin. Security was stepped up and the Minister for Justice said the town would get closed-circuit television cameras.
However, as the service station was on the outskirts of the town in an industrial area, such crime would be hard to combat, Mr Dunne said.
The manager of the service station refused to comment on the incident and said he would not talk to the media.
Ms Alison Anderson, an Ulster Bank spokeswoman, said this was the first such case where an Ulster Bank cash machine was stolen.
Several years ago, raiders stole an ATM from a service station in Howth and in Northern Ireland, a JCB was used to remove a Northern Bank ATM. On both occasions, the robbers failed to open the machines. Last year, a hijacked lorry was rammed into a cash-dispensing machine in west Belfast.
"If someone wants to break into it, they will find a way," Ms Anderson said. "but they couldn't open it. An ATM is like any safe. There are a lot of secure systems around it."
The machine was alarmed, she said, but she refused to comment on media reports that the alarm did not go off.
The bank could not say how much money was in the safe at the time of the robbery. "We know the maximum amount available for this machine but we are not prepared to say what that was," she said.
The bank was working closely with gardaí. Ulster Bank's security adviser was on the scene shortly after the incident and was monitoring the situation.
"We will endeavour to restore this service to local customers and other ATM users as soon as possible," she said
Gardaí have appealed for witnesses to come forward.
Gardaí at Carlow can be contacted at 0503-31505.
