Another ATM robbery.
Gardaí have confirmed that an ATM and its contents were stolen on Main Street, Dunleer, Louth at around 3.30am on Saturday morning (16 November).
Photos from the scene appear to show that a JCB digger was used in the commission of the crime.
While the incident was initially reported to be an "attempted robbery," a spokesperson for An Garda Síochána has confirmed to JOE that the ATM was removed and a sum of money was taken. The scene is currently preserved for investigation.
Declan Breathnach, a TD for Louth, said: "A continuation of ATM robberies will deprive our towns and villages of such facilities and is not helping in promoting the border region.
"Forty years of disrespect for law and order in our communities by a small number of coordinated criminal gangs should not be allowed to disrupt our lives or hamper the economy of local towns.
"There is now a real danger small villages and towns will lose their ATM machines, either through services being withdrawn or further raids due to the increase in criminal activity."
The ATM heist is the latest in a long string of more than a dozen similar crimes in the past 18 months, targeting counties and towns near the border between the Republic of Ireland and the north.
