A retired businessman says the State unlawfully seized some sterling£3m from his home which gardaí said was part of the £26.5m Northern Bank robbery in Belfast in December 2004.

The Taoiseach has been urged to help end a hunger strike by a 68-year-old Kildare woman who won a long battle to clear her name of involvement in the Northern Bank Robbery but now cannot get the state pension.

The 65-year-old Corkman who denies money-laundering some of the proceeds of the December 2004 Northern Bank robbery was described yesterday as carrying £175,000 in £20 sterling notes into a property developer’s office as security for a loan the following February.