€20,000 stolen from Gweedore GAA club was left for three days in a strongbox in the clubhouse.
Hooded thieves snatched the loot on Sunday, probably while many people from the area were still on their way home from Letterkenny after their team’s county championship quarter-final victory over Fanad Gaels.
The robbery wasn’t discovered until Monday morning. The strongbox was last seen undisturbed by club officials at lunch-time on Sunday shortly before they left for the big game.
But questions are being asked within the club as to why the money wasn’t banked on Friday.
It mostly consisted of takings from a packed disco last Thursday night which was attended by students at Irish summer schools in the area as well as by locals.
A spokesman for the club told the Donegal Post: “The money should have been banked, there is no doubt of that. An internal inquiry has been launched to establish why it wasn’t.”
He added that there was no function in the club since the disco and the bar would not have been opened, even for celebrations, on Sunday night.
“All that’s ever kept overnight in the place is some coins for the tills. This time there was a small fortune left there for almost three days. We’re running a golf classic at the moment and there was the equivalent of takings from two golf classics in this haul.”
The spokesman said the robbers were quite professional. “There are CCTV cameras in the place but they seemed deliberately to be avoiding them. When they were caught on camera their features were well-covered with hoodies.”
The time of the robbery is put officially at between lunch time on Sunday and early Monday but gardai believe the crime was carried out on Sunday night.
Gardai preserved the scene on Monday and scoured it throughout the day in the search for clues.
They appealed to anybody with any information that might be helpful to contact them at Bunbeg Garda station (074 953 1333) or at the district headquarters in Glenties(074 955 1080 or 074 955 1108).

Reporter: Paddy Clancy