RTÉ News understands that four former members of the IRA are the chief suspects in a spate of armed robberies on hotels in the midlands, including this morning's raid Co Kildare.
Two gardaí were held at gunpoint during the robbery at the Clonard Court Hotel in Athy last night.
Four masked and armed men entered the hotel and ransacked the reception area just after 2.30am.
Three of the men were armed with shotguns and the fourth had a sledgehammer.
It is understood the two gardaí arrived at the hotel while the robbery was in progress and were held up.
The four men left the scene in a red 4x4 vehicle, which had been stolen earlier in Athy.
Gardaí believe the gang has been responsible for a series of raids over the past six months, including incidents at hotels in Kildare, Carlow, Meath, Kilkenny and Wexford.
Most of those raids took place at the weekend when large amounts of cash were still on the premises and each time a gang gained entry to the hotel in the middle of the night.
RTÉ understands that in one robbery raiders used a taxi plate on a vehicle to gain entry to the hotel and during another robbery the money was taken from a safe using a vacuum cleaner.
