Gardai are investigating the movements of two cars used in a robbery early yesterday morning in Coolock, Dublin, during which a family was held at gunpoint.
A red Volkswagen Golf, stolen from the Killiney Castle Hotel late on Saturday night, was found near the scene of the robbery yesterday morning. The registration number is 89-D-23919.
The second car, a silver Renault Megane, registration number 00-D-48882, is the family car of the Comer family, of Ayrfield Drive, who were tied up by two men who broke into their home shortly after midnight on Sunday.
Mr John Comer was tied up with his two children and guarded by one raider, while the second ordered his wife, Mary, to drive him to the Artane Castle shopping centre in the family car.
A key-holder to the Graham O'Sullivan's restaurant in the centre, she was reportedly ordered to open the restaurant and its safe. It is understood £12,000 was taken.
She then drove the man back to the family home. The two men then escaped in the family car, which was found burnt out in the nearby Riverside Estate at about 4 a.m. yesterday.
A spokesman for the Garda in Coolock station said the raiders may have originally driven to the Coolock area in the Volkswagen Golf.
Gardai are appealing to anyone who saw the Volkswagen between midnight on Saturday and midnight on Sunday. They are also seeking to contact anyone who saw the Renault between midnight on Sunday and about 4 a.m. yesterday.
The raiders, who were wearing balaclavas, were described as "young" and speaking with Dublin accents.
