26 December 2004
Anonymous writes 26 December 2004:
The latest details I have for you concern a massive cash robbery that took place in Belfast last Monday. The heist was carried out by the IRA even though the group has denied any involvement. It is believed they got away with in the region of 35 million in sterling -- up until now the authorities have said it was over 22 million, but they are still counting. IRA army council member Brian Gillen took complete charge of the operation by unregistered mobile phone. Bobby Storey, the IRA's head of intelligence, provided all of the "inside information" alarm codes, etc. The cash was driven to a premises on the Grosvenor Rd and placed into bread vans which were driven to Dundalk. One of the mobile phones used was recovered on Christmas Eve morning during a raid on the home of Eddie Copeland. The role played by Copeland remains unknown. Authorisation for the heist was given as far back as March when it was originally proposed.
Thanks to A.
The Sunday Times (UK), December 26, 2004
Liam Clarke
POLICE in Northern Ireland have concluded that the IRA was almost certainly responsible for last week’s £22m (€31m) robbery of Northern Bank in Belfast.
This weekend police investigating the crime — the biggest bank robbery in British and Irish history — raided the homes of two suspected senior IRA men.
If carried out by the Provisionals, the robbery would not be a breach of the IRA ceasefire, but many unionists are likely to see it as evidence of bad faith on their part. The Irish and British governments are now assessing the possible impact on the peace process.
One official source said this weekend the available evidence “would seem to point to the IRA. It was well executed and there are a limited amount of people with that sort of expertise who are capable of evading the security services. It is not ideal for the peace process but it is too early to say what the effect will be.”
During the raid, the robbers took over two houses and held families hostage as two Northern Bank employees were ordered to help the operation to clear the vaults. Police believe the stolen money was taken to a yard in West Belfast’s Grosvenor Road area, transferred to another vehicle and driven away for storage, possibly in an underground bunker.
A series of police raids this weekend was concentrated on republican areas of north and west Belfast. Among the homes searched was a flat used by John Trainor, believed to be the intelligence officer of the IRA’s Belfast brigade; and the home of Eddie Copeland, who has been described in court as a senior IRA figure in north Belfast.
Trainor, who was not in when police called at about 9.30am on Friday, has a previous conviction for explosives offences and was released early from prison under the Good Friday agreement.
Outside his house, a small crowd heckled officers and a Sunday Times reporter. One said: “Scum like you should get a kicking for harassing people at Christmas.” Copeland, who was in bed when the raid on his home began, said police told him the search was in connection with the robbery. He said they had taken away shoes, clothing and a mobile phone, and unwrapped and searched Christmas presents. He is making a complaint to Nuala O’Loan, the police ombudsman.
During later raids in the Ballymurphy estate, west Belfast, a hostile crowd of about 100 people attacked police. Five officers were injured and two — one of whom was unconscious — were taken to hospital.
If the IRA carried out the robbery, it would have been sanctioned by the organisation’s adjutant-general, a Belfast resident who is a long-standing associate of Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein president. It is suspected plans were drawn up by a different member of the IRA’s general headquarters staff, the body responsible for its day-to-day running. This man currently holds the post of intelligence officer. He is a key supporter of Adams and has been used in the past to intimidate dissidents.
Yesterday Adams said he was complaining to Murphy about the police raids. “This was clearly an orchestrated event by the ‘securocrats’ in the British system who are intent on wrecking the peace process,” he said.
Last month, the IRA was asked by the British and Irish governments to issue a statement renouncing criminality and undertaking not to infringe human rights as part of a political settlement. The peace deal broke down when the organisation refused to allow photographs to be taken of the destruction of its weapons. Its leadership issued a statement promising to end its war but it omitted any reference to crime.
Last night Peter Robinson, the DUP deputy leader, said the robbery bore the hallmarks of the IRA and showed his party was right to make strict demands over power sharing. But he did not say it ruled out a deal.
It has also emerged that Northern Bank does not have the serial numbers of the vast majority of notes stolen, meaning most can be put into circulation. The bank is now considering withdrawing all its notes, which have a total value of £300m, from circulation and issuing newly designed ones.