Northern Bank notes found in Belfast police sports club

Money found last night at a police sports club in Belfast contained Northern Bank notes, police sources have confirmed.

The find was made at the Newforge Country Club in south Belfast. The Police Service have not said how much was recovered but it is understood to be relatively small in relation to the €3m found on Thursday in Cork.

The club is owned by the RUC Athletic Association and is used exclusively by serving and retired officers.

A PSNI spokesman said of the find: “Initial checks would suggest this incident is an effort to distract police investigating the Northern Bank robbery and also divert attention away from events elsewhere over the last two days.”

Nevertheless the discovery was being treated seriously, and the money was being examined to see whether it would lead detectives back to those responsible for the robbery, he said.

The find came after a call was made to the offices of the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman, it was revealed today.

The PSNI said the call was received last night by a person purporting to be a police officer.

“As a result of this call police carried out a search of Newforge and packages of what appeared to be money were found. These are currently being examined,” said a spokesman.

The Bank of Scotland today swiftly appointed a new chairman to its Irish operations after the former boss resigned last night after becoming embroiled in the money laundering investigation.

Former Sinn Féin Vice President Phil Flynn, a trusted advisor to An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, and industrial relations trouble-shooter, was questioned by officers from the Criminal Assets Bureau after it emerged he was a non-executive director of Chesterton Finance, a company at the centre of the investigation.

Mr Flynn insisted he had absolutely no involvement in money laundering and had stood down from the bank to protect his integrity.

He also quit the board of a health insurer and as chairman of the national implementation body overseeing decentralisation in Ireland.

The new bank chairman is Ron Garrick, deputy chairman of the bank’s parent company HBOS Plc.