The Provisional IRA has issued a blunt denial of any involvement in the robbery of £26.5 million (€37.85) from the Northern Bank in Belfast last month.
A two-sentence statement released late last night said, in full: "The IRA has been accused of involvement in the recent Northern Bank robbery. We were not involved." The statement was signed "P O'Neill", the usual signatory of official statements issued by the IRA.
The statement follows an assertion by the PSNI Chief Constable, Mr Hugh Orde, on January 7th that he believed the IRA was behind the largest robbery of banknotes in British or Irish history. He said his belief was backed by intelligence reports.
Last night, following the IRA statement, the Chief Constable referred to his own statement and said: "That remains my position."
A well-placed PSNI source queried why the IRA statement was being made now and not three weeks ago.
Mr Orde's claim and the IRA contradiction may now give rise to theories that the raid was some kind of "rogue operation" not sanctioned by the IRA leadership.
Both the Irish and British governments have accepted Mr Orde's assertion, with both the Northern Secretary, Mr Paul Murphy, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Ahern, stating as recently as last Monday that they fully believed the IRA to be responsible.
The IRA had already claimed it was not behind the robbery - a claim supported on a number of occasions by Sinn Féin. On Sunday, Mr Martin McGuinness said that if the IRA had carried out the raid, it would have been "unacceptable". He again said he believed IRA assertions that its volunteers were not involved in the robbery.
Last night Mr Ian Paisley junior rejected the IRA's denial.
"P O'Neill obviously stands for Pinocchio O'Neill," he said.
"Just because you deny something does not mean to say you did not do it. It is up to the IRA to prove they did not do it. Everyone knows and believes that they did do it."
The robbery, which was carried out two weeks after the two governments' failed efforts to broker a deal between Sinn Féin and the Rev Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionists, has thrown the political process into turmoil.
There was no immediate Government reaction to the IRA statement. The Taoiseach is leading an Irish trade mission in China this week, and was expected to comment on the matter at a press conference in Beijing early today.
In Dublin, a spokeswoman for the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr McDowell, said he would not be making any response last night.
Speaking in Beijing last night before the IRA statement was issued, the Taoiseach said the Government would reopen contacts with Sinn Féin early next week, despite its belief that the IRA was involved in the Northern Bank robbery.
He said: "I have to make a calculated judgment: is non-engagement better?
"My sense is that non-engagement has never worked in my lifetime, even if I don't feel at most enthusiastic. My sense is that I have to engage," he told The Irish Times.