PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde has once again briefed members of the Northern Ireland Policing Board on last month's Northern Bank robbery in Belfast.
He reaffirmed his assessment that the Provisional IRA was behind the £26.5 million heist.
SDLP and DUP members of the board of the authority emerged from the two-hour briefing at their Belfast headquarters convinced that detectives hunting the gang were on top of the investigation.
DUP member Sammy Wilson said: 'The one thing that was clear from the briefing was that the robbery would not have been done by people who were low-level operatives, nor indeed would they have taken the risk if it had not been sanctioned from higher up.'
SDLP representative Alex Attwood said he had no doubt whatsoever that Mr Orde's attribution in relation to this matter was correct and the inquiry was proceeding properly.
Mr Attwood added: 'I believe that senior members of the republican movement, both those on the IRA side and those who position themselves as political representatives, the share of information was across that range of people.'
Mr Orde left without making any comment, but the Policing Board Chairman, Desmond Rea, said the meeting was very good and that the briefing given by the Chief Constable and his assistant Sam Kinkaid had gone into significant detail.
A denial by the IRA that it carried out the bank raid was yesterday rejected by the PSNI and two of the North's parties.
The denial was issued late on Tuesday in a statement signed P O'Neill, the usual method by which the IRA makes its views known.
It was the first time the organisation had officially rejected Mr Orde's claim that it was directly involved.
Separately, Tánaiste Mary Harney has said Sinn Féin is still ambivalent about criminality and the armed struggle.
Speaking in Cork, Ms Harney said Sinn Féin leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness had to make up their minds, either for peace or to continue to be ambivalent.
She added that last month's bank robbery had been a major setback for the Northern Ireland peace process.
