BOMB SURVIVOR INVOLVED IN BANK ROBBERY DRAMA
Bomb survivor involved in bank robbery drama
BY: ADRIAN MILAN
Locals witness armed hold up while on Canadian break
A LOCAL, newsagent who was In Canada last week as part of a Tyrone Donegal programme was caught up in a Robbery on Friday, just hours before he was due to catch a flight back to Ireland.
Jim Sharkey, proprietor of Garland's newsagents in Market Street was in a bank in little town called 'Jane' just outside of Toronto, when a man stepped from the queue, spoke quietly to the cashier, followed her along the counter, and robbed her of a large sum of money, claiming he had a gun under his coat.
The frightened cashier acquiesced and the culprit walked from the bank with a substantial sum of money. However, the heist happened so quickly and quietly that the people queuing were not aware that a robbery had taken place.
Quite shaken by the incident, Mr Sharkey said nobody knew what was going on, and that it was only when they discovered that there had been an armed robbery that they became uneasy.
Taking a statement off Mr Sharkey, a Canadian policeman commented; "You came a long way for this to happen, it was out of the fat and into the fire."
Recalling the incident, Mr Sharkey said that when what had happened began to sink in he was quite shaken; "I couldn't believe somebody could just do that, just walk in and rob a bank like that, it was so smooth. You travel all that way and then that happens." However, the bank staff did what they could to try to put the visitors at their ease offering them tea and paying for a taxi to take them to another nearby bank. The bank manager also offered to take both of them for a meal that evening, however, they had to decline as Jim was booked on a flight home.
Mr Sharkey was one of over three hundred people injured when, on August 15th, a massive car bomb killed 29 people and decimated much of Market Street. On that occasion, Jim, who was in his newspaper shop at the time, received injuries to his arms and had cuts and bruises on his ears and face.
However, given that his shop was totally destroyed and had to be demolished some time later, he was lucky to escape with his life. With that incident still so fresh in his recent memory, it was not surprising that he was shaken at discovery of the armed robbery.
Another member of the party from Omagh, Mary Mulcahy, from Tyrone Training Services who was co-ordinating the IFI funded 'Wider Horizons' trip under the auspices of 'Options Toronto' was also witness to the robbery. In fact, it was not until she went to the counter to make a withdrawal that the robbery was discovered when the shocked cashier told her, "We've just been robbed."
Jim and Mary had been in Canada to check on the progress of a group of twenty young people from Omagh and Buncrana who had been in Canada on work experience since October. Many in the group had been affected by the bomb and the trip to Canada was brought forward to give the young people the opportunity to experience work and lifestyles in a foreign country.
As well as being psychologically scarred by the bomb, a number of those on the scheme had actually been left unemployed as, for some their former places of employment were destroyed. The group, accompanied by Ms Mulcahy will be returning to Omagh by coach this Sunday. Mr Sharkey's daughter, Anita, is amongst the cross-community group of young people working in Toronto.
Manager of the Tyrone-Donegal Partnership, Hugo Sweeney, said he was pleased to hear that no one had been injured in the incident.
BY: ADRIAN MILAN
Locals witness armed hold up while on Canadian break
A LOCAL, newsagent who was In Canada last week as part of a Tyrone Donegal programme was caught up in a Robbery on Friday, just hours before he was due to catch a flight back to Ireland.
Jim Sharkey, proprietor of Garland's newsagents in Market Street was in a bank in little town called 'Jane' just outside of Toronto, when a man stepped from the queue, spoke quietly to the cashier, followed her along the counter, and robbed her of a large sum of money, claiming he had a gun under his coat.
The frightened cashier acquiesced and the culprit walked from the bank with a substantial sum of money. However, the heist happened so quickly and quietly that the people queuing were not aware that a robbery had taken place.
Quite shaken by the incident, Mr Sharkey said nobody knew what was going on, and that it was only when they discovered that there had been an armed robbery that they became uneasy.
Taking a statement off Mr Sharkey, a Canadian policeman commented; "You came a long way for this to happen, it was out of the fat and into the fire."
Recalling the incident, Mr Sharkey said that when what had happened began to sink in he was quite shaken; "I couldn't believe somebody could just do that, just walk in and rob a bank like that, it was so smooth. You travel all that way and then that happens." However, the bank staff did what they could to try to put the visitors at their ease offering them tea and paying for a taxi to take them to another nearby bank. The bank manager also offered to take both of them for a meal that evening, however, they had to decline as Jim was booked on a flight home.
Mr Sharkey was one of over three hundred people injured when, on August 15th, a massive car bomb killed 29 people and decimated much of Market Street. On that occasion, Jim, who was in his newspaper shop at the time, received injuries to his arms and had cuts and bruises on his ears and face.
However, given that his shop was totally destroyed and had to be demolished some time later, he was lucky to escape with his life. With that incident still so fresh in his recent memory, it was not surprising that he was shaken at discovery of the armed robbery.
Another member of the party from Omagh, Mary Mulcahy, from Tyrone Training Services who was co-ordinating the IFI funded 'Wider Horizons' trip under the auspices of 'Options Toronto' was also witness to the robbery. In fact, it was not until she went to the counter to make a withdrawal that the robbery was discovered when the shocked cashier told her, "We've just been robbed."
Jim and Mary had been in Canada to check on the progress of a group of twenty young people from Omagh and Buncrana who had been in Canada on work experience since October. Many in the group had been affected by the bomb and the trip to Canada was brought forward to give the young people the opportunity to experience work and lifestyles in a foreign country.
As well as being psychologically scarred by the bomb, a number of those on the scheme had actually been left unemployed as, for some their former places of employment were destroyed. The group, accompanied by Ms Mulcahy will be returning to Omagh by coach this Sunday. Mr Sharkey's daughter, Anita, is amongst the cross-community group of young people working in Toronto.
Manager of the Tyrone-Donegal Partnership, Hugo Sweeney, said he was pleased to hear that no one had been injured in the incident.
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/1716
Published Date: 17-Dec-98
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