An armed gang dressed as security guards steal £500,000 from the Trinity Bank in Dublin.
The Group 4 Security firm leases vaults in the Trinity Bank in Dame Street, Dublin to hold cash overnight for big Dublin stores and supermarkets.
On the night of 12 October 1979, four men dressed as security guards in a white Ford transit van with Group 4 livery drove to the back of the Trinity Bank in Dame Street, Dublin.
They gang fooled the nightwatchman into thinking they were genuine Group 4 security guards. He opened the door in Dame Lane believing them to be delivering an expected cash deposit from a Dublin firm.
Immediately he opened the door he was held at gunpoint and then gagged and bound.
The raiders opened the vault using the nightwatchman's keys and completely cleared it out. They loaded the bags of money into the van. The entire operation took less than twenty minutes.
While an exact figure is unknown, the haul is estimated between £500,000 and £1 million,
By far the biggest cash robbery in the history of the state.
The van used in the raid was later found abandoned in Rathgar. A man has been detained for questioning at Rathmines Garda Station.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 13 October 1979. The reporter is Colm Connolly.
