Watch: Front wall of Cork bank demolished in second ATM smash and grab

A normally busy Cork bank branch has to remain closed this morning after thieves partially demolished the wall next to its entrance in an attempt to grab an ATM with a stolen telehandler.

The incident happened in the early hours of the morning at the Bank of Ireland branch at Little Island. Locals reported a series of loud bangs as the machine was used to bash in the wall around the ATM, causing extensive damage.

scene this morning at the BOI branch on Little Island(Image: CorkBeo.ie)

The scene remains closed off this morning as Gardai investigate and repairs are expected to start on the badly damaged front wall of the Bank of Ireland branch. Bits of the facade of the bank are currently crushed under the wheels of the stolen telehandler and the repair costs for the extensive damage are likely to be very high.

Locals told CorkBeo that while they had heard about a similar incident in North Cork last week, it was a shock to wake up this morning to see it happening in their own neighbourhood.

One resident told CorkBeo: “This is a very quiet part of town, there’s not even a pub here, so I can’t believe this would happen here.”

While another joked: “And today was when I wanted to take my money out and all.”

Bank of Ireland Little Island extensively damaged by the raid(Image: CorkBeo)

This is the second attempted robbery of an ATM in just over a week in Cork. On June 1st, a stolen JCB was used to ram the front of Dano’s SuperValu in Mallow in North Cork in a failed attempt to grab the ATM there.

It’s believed the thieves did manage to make off with the ATM on this occasion – in Mallow, those involved fled the scene without the machine.

Garda forensic team examines scene of destruction at the Bank of Ireland branch on Little Island Following smash and grab(Image: Elle O’Leary-Kelleher/CorkBeo)

ATMs in Ireland typically do not hold large amounts of cash and even when ‘fully stocked’ will usually have a total capacity of around €20,000 in notes, depending on the denominations used. The amounts can be significanty larger, especially in areas that are largely business and retail orientated, such as Little Island.

Gardai have begun an investigation and a spokesperson told Corkbeo:

“Gardaí received a report of an incident of burglary that occurred in Little Island, Co. Cork, on Wednesday, 10th June, at approximately 1:30 am.

An ATM machine has been reported as stolen. A technical examination of the scene has been conducted. Investigations are ongoing.”