Raiders escaped with a sum of money and a security worker was injured in a raid on a a cash-in-transit van in north Dublin today.
The raid took place at a branch of Ulster Bank situated near the Coachman's Inn, a landmark pub a short distance from Dublin airport, and beside the Fingal Golf Centre in Cloghran, Swords.
The incident occurred at about 10am when a Group 4 Securicor (G4S) van pulled up to the bank to make a delivery. Two men, one armed with what was believed to be a handgun and a second man, armed with a shotgun, accosted the security staff.
Sgt Noel Nolan said the two men made their escape with a quantity of cash but he would not confirm the amount. G4S dismissed some media reports that a large amount of cash was taken and said it was "a small fraction" of the €100,000 reported.
Witnessess said that shots were fired during the raid although Sgt Nolan said this had not been confirmed by gardai.
G4S said one of its employees was assaulted and suffered some injuries during the robbery, but it was not clear whether the injuries were as a result of gunfire. Gardai said the individual received hand injuries.
A motorbike driven by a third man is believed to have been used in the getaway.
A black Audi car, which Sgt Nolan said may also have been connected with the raid, was removed from the scene on a recovery vehicle at midday, accompanied by an unmarked Garda vehicle.
“We believe it may be connected but we have to wait and see at this time," he said.
Sgt Nolan said gardai were not following a definite line of inquiry.
“We are keeping an open mind on the investigation.”
He appealed for anyone in the area at the time who may have witnessed the incident or have any information to contact gardai. Sgt Nolan said it was a busy area with people driving past all the time.
A spokeswoman for G4S said: “Our key concern in respect of this incident, as in any similar incident, is for the safety and wellbeing of our staff. A number of shots were fired during this incident, and one of our staff was assaulted and suffered some injuries."
“Reports that a large sum of money (some media were claiming the amount was in excess of €100,000) are absolutely untrue. The amount of money stolen was a small fraction of that amount."
There were customers in the bank when the raid took place this morning and gardai were interviewing staff and witnesses inside.
Two Group 4 Securicor vans were still outside the bank at 11.50am, one of them reversed right up to the door of the bank.
The second was parked a short distance away in the car park and was removed a short time later.
At 12.15pm, the second cash van that had been reversed up to the door was also driven away after gardai had examined it.
Detectives wearing navy Garda jackets and blue plastic gloves could be seen inside the door speaking to people understood to be staff members.
A sign on the window of the bank told customers the branch would be closed for the rest of the day and redirected them to Swords. One customer who attempted to gain entry was asked to move back by a detective, who said he should return later.
The bank is about 150 metres away from the Coachman's Inn pub, but is hidden in a layby obscured to some degree by trees. Traffic on the southbound carriageway of the old airport road moves by at speed just yards from the bank.
A CCTV camera outside the bank was trained downwards on the ATM machine to the right of the entrance.
Last month, an armed gang held up a Group 4 Security (G4S) cash-in-transit van at a branch of the Ulster Bank in Killiney, Co Dublin.
Three men, all of whom were armed with handguns, threatened security staff making a cash delivery to the bank at Killiney Shopping Centre on Rochestown Avenue just before 10am on August 14th.
Sources said the gang escaped with less than €100,000 in that raid.
The raiders fled the scene in a silver VW Passat which had been stolen in Donnybrook on August 5th.