February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Ahern’s comments to RTE Sunday followed the claim by Police Service of Northern Ireland chief constable Hugh Orde that the IRA had carried out the raid before Christmas.
Ahern told RTE that: “This was an IRA job, a Provisional IRA job which would have been known to the political leadership.”
His comments have been received with incredulity by Sinn Fein.
Behind the scenes, republicans insist, the Irish government is making no such representations. Sinn Fein chairman Mitchel McLaughlin said Saturday that his party remained in close contact with Ahern’s government and that no such things were being said in private.
Ahern is reported to be furious with the republican movement over the alleged bank job, which took place over Sunday and Monday, Dec. 19-20. Political insiders claim that as far back as September Ahern was telling those close to him that he no longer “trusted” Sinn Fein.
They claim that Ahern’s patience with the political process is almost at an end and that the bank robbery, coming only weeks after the collapse of the most recent talks initiative, has further put him off concentrating on a deal in the short term.
Government aides have said that practically all trust between the two sides has evaporated over the issue and predict that political movement toward a deal in the North will not happen before 2006.
Republicans are meanwhile skeptical of Ahern’s public stance. They claim that the speed with which Ahern and his government colleagues seized on Orde’s “unsubstantiated” claim of IRA involvement indicates a desire to damage Sinn Fein’s vote in the Republic.
“If they believe this then, logically, the gardai should be looking for the arrest of senior members of Sinn Fein,” a republican source said. “If that isn’t done, a lot of people will suspect we’re seeing the political parties in the south using this issue to cause us damage.”
Sinn Fein chief negotiator, Martin McGuinness, said he was “angry and perplexed” by the taoiseach’s claims.
“I reject absolutely any suggestions whatsoever of double-dealing or dishonesty by Gerry Adams or myself,” he said Tuesday. “I remind people that we in Sinn Fein represent on this island around 340,000 voters and we are not, under any circumstances, going to allow that mandate to be set aside by anyone.”
Sinn Fein has repeatedly said it believes the IRA’s denial of having carried out the robbery. An IRA source was reported within days of the robbery as saying the organization was not involved. Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams and McGuinness have both said they believe the denial.
Meanwhile, several senior Sinn Fein members have denounced the heist as “wrong.” Gerry Kelly, Martin McLaughlin and McGuinness have all criticized the robbery and the abduction of Northern Bank employees.