Bank theft cash found in police club  By Shawn Pogatchnik
February 21, 2005  A detective believes the IRA is intent on
making Northern Ireland's police force appear stupid.  Northern
Ireland police have found some of the £26.5 million ($A63.9
million) stolen two months ago from the Northern Bank. It was in
a Belfast police country club.  Police said £50,000 was left in
restrooms at the weekend in five packages and discovered after
an anonymous phone tip-off to the police complaints authority.
Police suspect whoever planted the money in the New Forge
country club did so "in an effort to distract the police from
investigating the Northern Bank robbery". The bank is owned by
the National Australia Bank.  In Belfast, a detective said the
money was unlikely to produce any leads in the hunt for the
alleged Irish Republican Army gang responsible for the December
20 robbery.  "This has all the hallmarks of the Provos (IRA)
wanting to make us look daft, and they have," he said.  In the
Republic of Ireland, more than