Ulster bank robbery bore traces of Higgins crime novel

[struggle4progress]

By David Nyhan

George V. Higgins would be proud.

The late Boston-based lawyer-turned-thriller-writer <...> wrote the script for what may be the biggest bank heist in history — involving the equivalent of some $41 million in American money. <snip>

Northern Bank, supposedly the most secure private building in all of Ulster, was penetrated by robbers who held hostage the families of two bank employees, and threatened to kill them if the bank workers didn't cooperate by showing them how to bypass alarms and security procedures. <snip>

What did Higgins contribute to the scheme? Merely the plot line for how to get at the cash. <snip>

http://www.ecnnews.com/cgi-bin/04/n/nstory.pl?fn-dncol15


Watchdog tells how to quit 'rip-off' banks
By Brian Hutton
15 January 2005

A major campaign is planned to advise customers how to switch from Northern Ireland's leading banks.

Thousands of leaflets are to be distributed throughout the province by the General Consumer Council for Northern Ireland (GCCNI) as the row about overcharging rages on. <snip>

Bank of Ireland, First Trust, Northern Bank and Ulster Bank were working against the interests of consumers and overcharging for virtually every service, it was claimed. <snip>

"Research shows that Northern Irish bank customers are charged over 21 times more than their counterparts in the rest of the UK."

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=601171