Raiders set fire to pub, gardaí told

GARDAÍ are investigating reports that raiders burned down a well-known pub after robbing €50,000 in bank holiday weekend takings.

Detectives have been told that a four-man gang, one armed with a handgun, entered The Players Lounge, on the northside of Dublin, at 2am yesterday.

The pub, on Fairview Strand, is owned by John Stokes, the father of Celtic footballer Anthony Stokes. The publican has courted controversy in recent years, not least when he erected a massive banner covering his pub protesting at the visit of the British monarch.