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Irish minister held at gunpoint in robbery

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-16 09:30

One of the staff had hidden her mobile phone and was able to alert the police, who freed them, he said.

Police said the culprits escaped with an undisclosed sum of money, although media reports said they got away with 20,000 euros (US$27,300).

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"No shots were fired or any persons injured during the course of the incident," they added in a statement.

A father of three sons and a daughter, Roche was appointed European affairs minister by former prime minister Bertie Ahern in June 2007.

He played a leading role in the government's campaign to have the European Union's Lisbon Treaty ratified in a June referendum, but Irish voters rejected it, plunging the 27-nation bloc into institutional limbo.

Prime Minister Brian Cowen agreed at an EU summit in Brussels last week to re-run the vote next year if he is satisfied on assurances about issues shown to be of concern to Irish voters.

Roche was previously minister for the environment, heritage and local government and he was also a junior minister in the department of the Taoiseach (prime minister) and at the foreign affairs ministry.

After Monday's dramatic ordeal, the minister was philosophical. "It struck me how horrific it is when innocent people get caught up in incidents like this," he said.

"It must be quite awful for people going about their business, particularly for elderly or maybe very young people to get trapped in something like this. It is a very unpleasant experience," Roche said.

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