Three employees were tied up in a raid at the Rathmines post office, Dublin yesterday when €250,000 was stolen. Two youths were lying in wait for staff when they arrived at the premises on Upper Rathmines Road just after 8 a.m. A branch manager, a cleaner and a clerk were grabbed and tied up.
The manager was then made to provide the keys of the safe. The robbers opened it and somewhere between €200,000 to €250,000 was taken.
It is believed the two youths were on the premises overnight.Other employees arrived at about 8.30 a.m. and discovered their colleagues tied up.
One employee who did not want to be named said: "The office was pitch black. I knew something was wrong, there was a smell of burning." He said they then discovered the three colleagues who were tied up. He did not know anything about what happened.
The three were shocked and shaken but otherwise unhurt.
The Rathmines post office is large. At the back there is the main sorting office for Dublin 6 and in the front facing on to the main road is the public office.
The delivery staff at the back who came in earlier would not have known what was going on in the other section.
The main public post office was closed yesterday. All morning members of the public turned up at and were surprised at the news. Notices on the doors told them it was closed due to a robbery and referred them to the Ranelagh and Rathgar post offices.
Mail sorting staff and deliverers resumed work as usual at the back.
Members of An Garda Síochána from Rathmines station investigated the scene, entering from the side door.
Officers from the Garda Technical Bureau also arrived to begin a forensic examination.
A Garda press office spokesman said management and staff were approached by two youths who got away with an amount of cash.
There were no injuries and it was not known what transport, if any, the raiders used in their getaway.
A builder who was working across the road from the front office on Upper Rathmines Road said he was surprised when he heard the news.
Mr Karl Dolan said he and other builders had been on the site since 6 a.m. and it had been so quiet.
They had seen nothing.