Hostage couple knew it was just 'matter of time'
A COUPLE who were held hostage at their home had feared it would only be a "matter of time" before they became a target of a tiger kidnapping.
Tony Walsh (41) and his wife Anne, who is in her late 30s, were held overnight in their Dublin home at Domville Drive, Templeogue, by four men.
Bank manager Tony was then forced to take money from the bank and give it to the kidnappers before they were both set free.
Last night Tony's parents told of their shock when they got a call yesterday afternoon from the gardai.
"Tony was out in the back garden having a cigarette about 11pm when they jumped him," his mother Liz (pictured) said. "They went upstairs and tied up Anne and they kept them apart all night in different bedrooms so they didn't know what was happening to the other person.
"He was brought to the bank at 7am and ordered to take out money." She added that her son had been out golfing earlier that evening with three friends at the Spawell golfing range -- and he believes he may have been followed from there.
Tony Snr said the couple had become more security conscious since Tony was appointed manager of the AIB branch in Clondalkin last year. The rising number of bank and post office officials being targeted made them very conscious that Tony's job could be putting them at risk.
"They worried that it would only be a matter of time before they were targeted," he said. "It's a terrible shock to get, I feel sick to my stomach," said Liz.
- Edel Kennedy
Irish Independent
