Kidnap raid - Bank’s error could have been fatal

Justice Minister Michael McDowell was correct to admonish the National Irish Bank for paying a substantial ransom to an armed gang instead of alerting the gardaí at the time, as he did yesterday.

The bank is not above the law, and it put itself and the lives of the bank official and his family in jeopardy by bowing to the demands of those who raided their Killester branch.

By agreeing to pay an estimated €270,000 ransom money, and thereby ignoring whatever procedure is in place between the gardaí and the banks, the National Irish Bank made the wrong decision.