On 7 January, three armed men took two men hostage and demanded that a third man hand over money from the security company he worked for. The plot unravelled, however, when the two hostages escaped and alerted gardaí.

In the second incident, a man was held at his home in Muff, Co Donegal, while his partner was forced to hand over cash from the McDonald's fastfood shop in Derry's Waterside.

On 15 January, a gang made off with an estimated ¤2m after forcing a securityfirm worker to hand over cash while his wife was being held hostage at home.

The latest incident took place on Wednesday when a bank manager and his family were taken hostage at their home in Swords, forcing them to hand over ¤1m.

Two people were later apprehended.