Adams, Ferris, McGuinness ‘approved raid’

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Sunday TimesLiam Clarke and Stephen O’Brien



SECURITY sources and Irish government officials have named Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness and Martin Ferris as the Sinn Fein leaders who approved the £26.5m (€38.4m) Northern Bank robbery.

A report by the International Monitoring Committee (IMC) last week said “senior members, who are also senior members of PIRA, were involved in sanctioning the series of robberies” but stopped short of naming them.

However, police on both sides of the border and Irish government sources have confirmed that the three parliamentarians sit on the IRA’s ruling army council and were therefore involved in a collective decision to sanction the heist. The raid, the biggest in British or Irish history, was the last in a line of high-value robberies.

The seven-strong Army Council approves IRA strategies but leaves detailed planning to other bodies such as the general headquarters (GHQ) staff. Martin Lynch, the GHQ staff adjutant, is a former driver of Adams and McGuinness while its intelligence officer, Bobby Storey, is a close associate of the Sinn Fein leader.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-1482002,00.html