An Post said yesterday it was "hugely concerned" at three bungled kidnap and robbery attempts on post office workers in Dublin in recent days.
The most recent attempt yesterday morning was foiled when the van driven by a criminal gang broke down on the M50 motorway before the post office on Ballygall Road East in Finglas could be robbed as planned.
The Irish Postmasters' Union (IPU) also expressed concern for the safety of its members and said it would be raising the issue with An Post when it met management next week.
According to gardaí, about four armed men wearing balaclavas forced their way into a house at Glasnevin Avenue around 1am yesterday.
They tied up the post office worker and her husband, both in their 50s, and their adult son. They were held hostage for several hours and then, at about 6am, the hooded father and son were put in a van. The woman, a keyholder of the post office, was left with instructions to follow when she went to work so that the gang could get money from the time-locked safe. Her husband and son would then be released by the gang, they said.
However, at about 7am, as rush hour was getting under way, the gang's blue Citroën Berlingo van broke down on the M50, between the Finglas and Blanchardstown exits.
The culprits escaped on foot across open ground, leaving the father and son in the back of the vehicle. They freed themselves and a Garda patrol car crew from Finglas Garda Station came to their rescue about 15 minutes later. Although the family members were traumatised, they were unhurt, gardaí said.
The house was sealed off yesterday and gardaí carried out a technical examination of the van.
The post office at Ballygall Road East was closed yesterday and customers were redirected to post offices in the Finglas and Glasnevin area.
Gardaí yesterday appealed for help in finding two other vehicles used by the gang. The wine-coloured Toyota Avensis had the registration number 05 D 43161 and the silver BMW had the registration number M9TVU.
Anybody with information has been asked to call Finglas Garda station on 01-6667500 or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800-666111.
On Tuesday night, a 62-year-old post mistress was abducted from her home in north Dublin and taken to Monkstown, where she was held captive for several hours. However, she managed to escape when her captor took drugs and fell asleep.
On Tuesday morning, three armed men broke into a house in Belclare Park, Ballymun, but quickly retreated when confronted by a number of men. It is thought that the burglars were targeting a keyholder of a post office but instead encountered several of her male relatives.
An Post spokeswoman Anna McHugh said this week's events were "a very serious and worrying development" and the company was working closely with gardaí.
All three cases targeted female post office workers in their Dublin homes but the IPU said it did not know if this was merely a coincidence.
John Kane, IPU's general secretary, said the most worrying aspect was that the captors had the home addresses of the post office workers. He said security in post offices was now very sophisticated and it was difficult to know what could be done.
"If the robberies had followed through to their logical conclusion, it's highly questionable if anyone would be able to access the money because no individual postmaster or postmistress can directly access money without the intervention of another party," Mr Kane said.
