Breakthrough in Northern bank job?

I'll reply to you here now Irish1 on that but don't reply back in this thread as I'll split the two posts and move them to the Northern bank thread its here somewhere.

I understand that they couldnt connect the two, thats correct, but how exactly do you match used bank notes?
None of the actual northern bank notes turned up i understand except those sillily planted at the PSNI social club

*edit* thread merged*

Villain

Well I thought they were pretty sure the money was from the Northern Bank robbery so I presumed they had some way of tying the two together.

It's interesting that we didn't hear more about it lately considering the hype in the media at the time. I also thought we would have heard more about the money found in the North, even if it was planted surely they would have carried out a huge investigation to try and see who planted it.

So 3 months on, the only money to be recovered and confirmed to be from the robbery was that found at the PSNI social club. The van still hasn't been found and no-one has been arrested despite the two governments claiming to know the group who carried it out

The mind boggles?????

Nuttzz

irish1 wrote:

A quick off-topic question, I heard something on the radio last week about the gardai declaring the money found in cork was not from the Northern Bank Robbery. I was sitting on a jury for most of last week so missed the news a lot, did anyone else hear this??

I heard this too and a few days later I heard the the cops denied this though

Rock Climber

irish1 wrote:

The mind boggles?????

No need for it to boggle at all, the IRA are just cleverer than the PSNI they've been codding them so well for so long.
Past masters at the hiding game, so they are.

The only drawback is now that they are un officially mostly retired(except for a few nixxers) they can't really be spending the money as it will be copped, so its not much use to them really bar a bit of extra drinking money.

cdebru

Earthman wrote:

I'll reply to you here now Irish1 on that but don't reply back in this thread as I'll split the two posts and move them to the Northern bank thread its here somewhere.

I understand that they couldnt connect the two, thats correct, but how exactly do you match used bank notes?
None of the actual northern bank notes turned up i understand except those sillily planted at the PSNI social club

*edit* thread merged*

if they were in the original ties or bags or if the fingerprints of the northern bank staff used by the raiders was found on the bags etc

A Dub in Glasgo

Effectively, nobody knows if the cash found was from the NI bank job. That little fact did not stop the hyperbole though.

cdebru

cdebru wrote:

if they were in the original ties or bags or if the fingerprints of the northern bank staff used by the raiders was found on the bags etc

You think the IRA would be that sloppy?

cdebru

Earthman wrote:

You think the IRA would be that sloppy?

first of all i would have to be convinced the IRA did it which I'am not yet

waiting on actual evidence


all i was doing was giving examples of how the money could be traced back not an opinion on the professionalism or otherwise of whoever stole the money

mycroft

cdebru wrote:

first of all i would have to be convinced the IRA did it which I'am not yet

waiting on actual evidence


all i was doing was giving examples of how the money could be traced back not an opinion on the professionalism or otherwise of whoever stole the money

Out of curiousity what level of evidence would satisfy you? A photo of adams and mary lou cavorting on a bed covered in money?

Seriously though, theres been plenty of "this doesnt prove anything posts. I', curious to see what level of evidence would satisfy you?

billy the squid

No need for it to boggle at all, the IRA are just cleverer than the PSNI they've been codding them so well for so long.
Past masters at the hiding game, so they are.

well if they can keep jean McConville's body hidden for 30 years they can keep a stash of cash hidden for the same length of time.

on the plus side for the IRA, the £27m doesnt have any family looking for it, so the IRA are under no pressure to fess up to its whereabouts.

http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=137480792&p=y3748y498

now who said the cork dough was unrelated to the bank robbery?

MT

More on the comments from Bertie Ahern:

Seized cash 'linked to bank raid'

Irish police are satisfied that cash found during raids in the Irish Republic is linked to the Northern Bank robbery, Bertie Ahern has said.

Police seized almost £3m - £60,000 of it in Northern Bank notes - during raids last month linked to alleged money laundering in Dublin and Cork.

The IRA has been blamed for the £26.5m raid at the bank's Belfast headquarters on 20 December. The IRA denies this.

Mr Ahern said police were sure the cash "was part of the haul from the north".

The Irish prime minister told the BBC's Hearts and Minds programme: "Before I went to the United States, the position of the gardai (was) that they had done an enormous amount of forensic tests.

"But they are quite satisfied - professionally, absolutely and totally satisfied - as I understand it, that that money was part of the haul from the north."

Mr Ahern added that while tests were still ongoing, the police assessment was quite clear.

He said that it meant the IRA was indeed behind the bank robbery and now had a considerable amount of money which it did not have previously.

Earlier this month, Northern Ireland's Chief Constable Huge Orde said there were "clear indications" money found in Cork came from the Northern raid.

The bank is replacing £240m of its notes - exchanging old Northern Bank money for notes with a new design and colour - following the robbery.

Police on both sides of the border have said they believe the IRA was behind the robbery.

As a result of the claims, Sinn Fein MPs are to be stripped of £400,000 in parliamentary allowances.

BBC NEWS website (21 March, 2005)

I think it’s only a matter of time now before we see some major moves in relation to this case. As an aside, apparently it was evidence confirming IRA responsibility for the raid presented by Ahern and officials from the Irish government that caused Sen. Edward Kennedy to cancel his meeting with Adams on St. Patrick’s day. Prior to the briefing he had been sceptical of allegations of IRA involvement having chosen to put his faith in the denials of the Sinn Féin leader. No wonder he was pissed with the Republican Movement when shown evidence of such audacious criminality.

Furthermore, there’s speculation that the reason for Adam’s much less strenuous protestations of IRA non-involvement in the matter during his press conference in the US is that he too was shown the conclusive proof during an hour long meeting between himself and the two Aherns that day. So, if this is true, expect Sinn Féin to deploy a management of expectations strategy in the coming weeks if they know a bomb shell is heading their way.

MT

Should add to the above that I don't believe for a moment that Gerry Adams had been kept in blissful ignorance about the bank raid prior to being consulted by Ahern, if indeed that's what happened. Given the justice minister has stated that Adams is on the IRA army council then he will have sanctioned the raid. Of course, Ahern knows this and Adams knows Ahern knows but the Taoiseach was probably attempting give a foreworning of forthcoming developments so as Gerry might have a chance to save the 'peaceful' end of the movement and have a reckoning with the militants.

Personally, I believe Ahern should forget trying to aid Adams career and play tough for, as sure as it happened in the past, the Sinn Féin leader is capable once again of playing the government for fools. Adams has had so long now to bring an end to violent and criminal aspects of the Republican Movement that many of us can only ponder whether he ever intended to. Will the IRA still be in existence and robbing banks come 2025?

cdebru

if there is conclusive proof lets see it

honestly if it is there I think we should be shown it even if it damaged possible prosecutions I think it would be important if they have proof that links the IRA and the leadership of Sinn Fein to the robbery then it should be in the public domain prior to the elections up the north

BuffyBot

I think we should be shown it even if it damaged possible prosecutions

Well that would be just silly!

cdebru

why

I think it is more important that people know who and what they are voting for and 26 million pound would be a small price to pay

I very much doubt there is conclusive evidence by the way

Hydroquinone

cdebru wrote:

if there is conclusive proof lets see it

honestly if it is there I think we should be shown it even if it damaged possible prosecutions I think it would be important if they have proof that links the IRA and the leadership of Sinn Fein to the robbery then it should be in the public domain prior to the elections up the north

If there is evidence enought to arrsest and charge anyone, then that evidence has to be held sub judice until the trial, so that the jurors can't have already formed an opinion about it. Jurors have to hear evidence for the first time in a court of law. That's the way criminal prosecutions work in this country and seeing as we have more or less the same justice system as the British one, I can't think that they're likely to do it any differntly in Northern Ireland.

Quite where they're going to pull a jury from who has no preconcieved notions about this whole thing is another question so if and when anyone ever gets taken to court over this, finding a jury is going to be a hell of a job.

Hydroquinone

Hydroquinone wrote:

Quite where they're going to pull a jury from who has no preconcieved notions about this whole thing is another question so if and when anyone ever gets taken to court over this, finding a jury is going to be a hell of a job.

Thats a very salient point.
You see where cdebru is coming from on this one is innocent untill proven guilty etc and thats laudable.
However in the real world people just make up their minds and thats that-they may make them up wrongly in some cases or in others their gut instinct where they've ran with it and second guessed a decision of a court or whatever they may have been right.

A Dub in Glasgo

Hydroquinone wrote:

Quite where they're going to pull a jury from who has no preconcieved notions about this whole thing is another question so if and when anyone ever gets taken to court over this, finding a jury is going to be a hell of a job.

Irrelevant as this will go to the non jury Special Criminal Court therefore we just need to find a needle in a haystack to find an impartial Judge

cdebru

A Dub in Glasgo wrote:

Irrelevant as this will go to the non jury Special Criminal Court therefore we just need to find a needle in a haystack to find an impartial Judge

presuming there is paramilitary involvement

Hydroquinone

A Dub in Glasgo wrote:

Irrelevant as this will go to the non jury Special Criminal Court therefore we just need to find a needle in a haystack to find an impartial Judge

Whatever makes you think that when/if anyone gets charged with this robbery that the trial would be in the Republic of Ireland? Why would it? The non-jury courts of the Special Criminal Court are part of the judicial system here, not there. The crime took place in Nortehrn Ireland, so the trial would have to be in that jurisdiction. Unless I'm vastly mistaken, there's no non-jury trials in the North any more, not since the Diplock trials during internment.

cdebru

Hydroquinone wrote:

Whatever makes you think that when/if anyone gets charged with this robbery that the trial would be in the Republic of Ireland? Why would it? The non-jury courts of the Special Criminal Court are part of the judicial system here, not there. The crime took place in Nortehrn Ireland, so the trial would have to be in that jurisdiction. Unless I'm vastly mistaken, there's no non-jury trials in the North any more, not since the Diplock trials during internment.

diplock (non jury courts ) are still in operation in the 6 counties

they were set up in 1973

internment means you dont have any trial just locked up

A Dub in Glasgo

Hydroquinone wrote:

Whatever makes you think that when/if anyone gets charged with this robbery that the trial would be in the Republic of Ireland? Why would it? The non-jury courts of the Special Criminal Court are part of the judicial system here, not there. The crime took place in Nortehrn Ireland, so the trial would have to be in that jurisdiction. Unless I'm vastly mistaken, there's no non-jury trials in the North any more, not since the Diplock trials during internment.

I was referring to the people that where lifted in Dublin and Cork.

The Diplock system of no jury trials is still in place and would be used by the British authorities if they catch anyone for this robbery.

Hydroquinone

My mistake, sorry. I made a pig's ear of that.
Thanks for the correction, lads.