€4m robbery has paramilitary hallmarks, says Taoiseach
A robbery in which up to €4m was stolen had the hallmarks of a well organised raid by a paramilitary group, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said today.
But he said that until a garda investigation into the crime in which a family were held hostage overnight was completed, it would be impossible to know whether it was the work of a paramilitary group or criminal gang.
Mr Ahern said: “It sounds like a well organised raid from what I’ve heard. You always suspect in these kinds of raids, this daring kind of raid, either a small group of criminal gangs or subversives or paramilitary groups.
“It certainly does have the hallmarks of a well organised paramilitary group, but as you know the paramilitary groups have moved into criminality and do their own thing as well,” he said.
He said that paramilitary groups, particularly dissident ones, were always looking for resources.
“We’ve moved away from these kinds of robberies in the recent past until last year when we saw a spate of them.”
The Taoiseach said his sympathy went out to the family for the trauma they had suffered and promised the robbers would be pursued without regard to political sensitivities.
