Millions Walk From Irish Bank Amid Shoddy Security

One Bank of Ireland employee under duress procures about $9m for crime gang.

There is public outcry in Ireland today that an estimated 7 million Euro ($9m) was stolen overnight from the country's biggest bank because of poor procedures.

How could one employee gain access to such a sum, callers to a popular national radio show have asked, after a crime gang held hostage the family of twenty-something banker Shane Travers and forced him to withdraw cash for them from his employer Bank of Ireland. The raid was in a major Dublin city center branch, opposite Trinity College.

Top management has recently changed at Bank of Ireland, amongst others, as Ireland is rocked by its worst ever banking crisis.

The new Bank of Ireland Chief Executive Richie Boucher emailed staff this afternoon, reminding them of the bank's security procedures. "Our best defense is to follow tried and tested procedures," he said.

This followed a statement by the Irish Justice Minister Dermot Ahern, saying that proper procedures were not followed during the raid this morning.