THE gardai are searching for three men who tied up a family, including four children aged between five and 14, during a raid on a Dublin house.
The men, who were armed and wearing balaclavas, got away with £3,100 in cash when they took over and ransacked the Clancy home in Dubber Cross, Finglas, on Sunday night.
The raiders broke into the home at about 11.30 p.m. after a babysitter had gone home and before Tom and Margaret Clancy had returned. They tied up the children and waited for the parents' return.
When Mr and Mrs Clancy came home a short time later, the raiders confronted them, assaulting Mr Clancy with a stun gun and threatening him with a sawn off shotgun.
The men tied up the couple and ransacked the house before making off in the family's silver Ford van, which they abandoned a short distance away. It is understood that the cash was from the family's furniture business, which is located beside the family home.
The alarm was raised after Mrs Clancy managed to free herself and make her way to a neighhour's house.
According to gardai, one of the armed raiders was described as being five feet nine inches tall and wore a black sweatshirt. A second man was wearing black track suit trousers and white runners.