Gardai are to stage a showdown with senior Bank of Ireland executives after a vital two-and-a-half-hour time lapse allowed armed raiders to escape with €300,000 in a tiger kidnap yesterday.

Bank management ignored alert guidelines, which were drawn up by all of the financial institutions with the gardai and the Department of Justice, to protect the hostages taken in a tiger kidnap and help end the spate of similar robberies.

For the first time, two children were among those held hostage as thugs abducted the family of bank official Nicola Hall and forced her to collect the cash from her Bank of Ireland branch at Tyrconnell Road in Inchicore.

Nicola's husband, John, and their two children, a six-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl, endured a horrific ordeal in the back of a stolen van for more than six hours before they managed to free the boy from his bonds and he flagged down a passer-by.

Gardai did not become aware of the kidnap until after the money had been collected by the gang.

A top-level meeting between the gardai and bank officials will be held on Tuesday.

Last night a major hunt for the raiders was under way as gardai completed technical examinations of the hostages' home, a GAA club where the cash was left, and a garage where the family were abandoned by the gang.

At least four men were involved in the raid, which was described as well-planned.

Masked

The armed and masked raiders forced their way into Ms Hall's home at Johnsbridge estate in Lucan, west Dublin, at around 1am. She was ordered to turn up for work as usual at the branch in Tyrconnell Road and given instructions about organising the money and making a delivery.

Ms Hall, along with her husband and children, was held in the house until 6am, when the rest of the family were bundled into a stolen, blue Opel van, with the registration 07 D 69990. The gang stole the family's silver VW Passat, 99 D 60718, from the driveway and drove it away with the van. The Passat has not yet been located.

Meanwhile, Ms Hall left her home at 9am and drove to work in her black Toyota Rav 4, registration number 06 D 39011.

She arrived at Tyrconnell Road half-an-hour later and informed her colleagues of the kidnapping of her family.

Senior Bank of Ireland management were told about her dilemma and ordered the handover of the cash. But the security protocols were not followed and gardai were not told.

This is the second big security lapse involving the Bank of Ireland this year. Last February the gardai were also kept in the dark while an armed gang made off with a massive €7.6m after Shane Travers, an official at the bank's branch at College Green, in central Dublin, was targeted at his girlfriend's home between Kilteel, Co Kildare, and Rathcoole, Co Dublin.

Gardai did not know about that tiger kidnap until the money was left in a car park at the Dart station in Clontarf.

Yesterday morning, Ms Hall and her colleagues began stuffing the bank notes into a bag around 11am and she brought the money out of the bank around 11.15am and drove off in her Rav, as instructed, to the Liffey Gaels GAA club at Sarsfield Road in Inchicore.

She then walked away from the vehicle, leaving the doors unlocked and the cash inside. As she arrived back at the bank, shortly after midday, the vital call was made to the gardai but when they sped to the GAA club the money had been taken from the Rav, which was still there.

The rest of her family had been driven in the van to the rear of Tougher's garage in Rathangan, Co Kildare, and were tied up by their abductors before being left alone.

Ms Hall's husband managed to help the six-year-old boy to struggle free from his bonds and he slipped out of the Opel and alerted the driver of a delivery van, who freed the rest of the hostages.

Unharmed

Gardai said that the three of them were unharmed and that the children appeared to be in good spirits.

Last night officers appealed to anybody who saw any of the three vehicles involved in the incident at any time on Thursday night or yesterday morning to contact them at the investigation headquarters at Lucan station, 01 6667332, or the garda confidential line, 1800 666111.

This was the second incident at this bank branch this week. Last Monday a raider, who appeared to be armed, made off with €2,000 after threatening staff.

- TOM BRADY

Irish Independent