Gardai in the south-east, backed by the Aerial Wing from Dublin, were last night searching for an armed gang which escaped with a substantial amount of cash from a Waterford bank.
Three masked men carrying weapons thought to be pump-action shotguns carried out the robbery on the AIB branch at the Ardkeen Shopping Centre as staff were preparing to leave at 5.45 p.m. Staff were forced to open a safe and the gang escaped with several bags of cash in a waiting red Mitsubishi Pajero. Gardai said last night they would not know how much was taken until this morning.
Local gardai refused to speculate last night on whether the group may have been part of a criminal gang or part of a subversive organisation.
However, the raid comes three weeks to the day after another well-planned raid by republican paramilitaries in Dalkey, Co Dublin. Gardai believe that raid was carried out by dissident republicans opposed to the peace process who are seeking to finance a renewed terror campaign in Northern Ireland and possibly in Britain.
There are concerns the dissidents are again growing in strength and are being helped in their operations by dissident Provisional IRA members unhappy with the continuing ceasefire and political process in Northern Ireland.
While the identity of the latest raiders could only be speculated about, it is known that dissident republicans are active in the southeast.
Another republican gang attempted to rob a security van in Ashford, Co Wicklow, on May 1st last year but were stopped by gardai. In the subsequent confrontation - when gardai saw one gang member point a gun at an officer and pull the trigger - one of the gang, Ronan MacLochlainn, a former Provisional IRA member from north Dublin, was shot dead.
Supt Michael McGarry, who was last night heading the investigation into the Ardkeen robbery, has appealed for anyone with information to contact the Garda at 051 874888.