Bank employees in North on alert after bomb attacks by dissidents

BANK employees in Northern Ireland are being put on alert after several bomb attacks in recent months by dissident Irish nationalists.

A branch of Banco Santander in Derry was bombed on May 21, causing “extensive damage,” according to police. The self-styled Real Irish Republican Army, which killed a policeman in April, said it carried out the attack. Last October, the same group exploded a car bomb in Derry outside a branch of Ulster Bank Ltd, part of Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc.

“We are urging our staff to remain vigilant and are helping police with their inquiries,” Andy Smith, a spokesman for Santander, said by phone yesterday.