As gardai sought witnesses to an armed raid and kidnapping at a Dublin bureau de change over the weekend, a call was made for tighter security at financial institutions.
In the third such raid in eight days an armed gang forced a pregnant woman at gunpoint to unlock the safe in the American Express bureau de change in Nassau Street. They escaped with about £500,000 in pounds, foreign currency and travellers' cheques.
Fine Gael's justice spokesman, Mr Jim Higgins, said that in the light of the recent armed raids at Dublin Airport and Finglas there was a major security crisis and he questioned the ability of the Minister for Justice to do his job.
Shortly after 9 p.m. on Friday four men, two of them carrying weapons, forced their way into the home of Mr Conleth Campbell and his wife, Louise, who is five months pregnant.
The men were wearing wigs, and two wore red fleece tops. Three of them had Dublin accents while one is thought to have had a Northern accent.
The couple were held prisoner in a bedroom of the house in Rosemount Court off Booterstown Avenue for 10 hours while the intruders took turns guarding the door of the room. At 7.15 a.m. the next day the couple were driven away in separate cars.
Ms Campbell was taken to the bureau de change in Nassau Street where she worked as a manager.
After parking in Dawson Street about 70 yards from the office, she was walked to the office by one of the men and forced to deactivate the alarm and open the safe.
The men left with their haul, and shortly afterwards Ms Campbell raised the alarm.
Earlier Mr Campbell had been forced into his own car and driven to a car-park on Strand Road in Sandymount.
He was left there in his car and later called gardai from a house on the road. The couple were said to be physically well after their ordeal, but were still recovering from shock.
Supt Jim Joyce yesterday appealed for anyone who had seen unusual activity in the three relevant areas to phone the incident room at Blackrock Garda station.
The areas are:
Rosemount Court off Booterstown Avenue from 6 p.m. on Friday evening and between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. on Saturday;
The American Express bureau de change in Nassau Street between 8 a.m. and 9.15 p.m.
The first car-park on the seafront on Strand Road coming from the city centre between 8.30 a.m. and 9.30 a.m.
Supt Joyce said that while they had no suspects as yet, he was hopeful of bringing the matter to a successful conclusion.
The American Express bureau de change had no comment yesterday.
The incident room at Blackrock Garda station can be contacted on 666-5250, 6665274 or 666-5276.