Gardai believe a man arrested after an armed robbery in a Cork building society yesterday morning is the man responsible for six robberies in Dublin in the last two weeks.
The 31-year-old from Finglas was being questioned in Gurranabraher Garda station in Cork last night under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act. On Tuesday gardai released video footage of a man wanted for questioning in relation to up to six armed robberies in Dublin.
The arrest happened shortly before noon after the man escaped with £5,000 from the EBS at Shandon Street in Cork. Bank staff said he walked casually into the branch and gestured to them to stay silent before reaching over the counter to grab the money. Two of the bank staff pressed the alarm, alerting gardai and shutting the security doors automatically.
The man is believed to have pointed his gun at staff until they released the security catch. One of the bank workers, Ms Tara O'Donoghue, said she managed to hide about £2,000 from the man by shoving it behind a printer. After the raid she described the man as "very cool".
The bank manager, Mr Gerry Owens, who watched the raid on a closed-circuit TV in his office, followed the raider at a distance and pointed him out to gardai. The man hailed a cab on Blarney Street. When he saw the patrol car he ran, but was arrested by gardai.
The man is believed to have a number of minor convictions.