Armed gangs get away with £90,000 in two separate Dublin city centre raids.
The first of two Dublin city centre raids occurred at approximately 8:40 am at a post office in Pearse Street. A post office van delivering cash for pensions was hijacked and robbed of about £78,000 by two armed raiders.
Postmaster Brendan Phelan describes events,
I thought the cash was a bit late coming and I pulled the curtain across on the door.
The raiders transferred the money to a red getaway van at Hogan Place, off Macken Street. The van was found abandoned off Lower Mount Street.
It had been stolen earlier and had false number plates.
Within an hour, a second robbery occurred at the College of Technology on Bolton Street. Two masked men, one armed with a shotgun, burst into the college and held up office staff, getting away with £12,000 in wages.
The total for the day, £90,000.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on the 19 October 1979. The reporter is Tom McCaughren.
