Thursday 22 September, 9pm
On 20 December last year, the Northern Bank headquarters in Belfast was robbed of £26.5m. It was the biggest cash bank robbery in criminal history.
The bank robbery shook the entire Irish peace process to its foundations as both the British and Irish Governments angrily blamed the Provisional IRA. All negotiations collapsed. The fallout from the Northern Bank robbery still potentially threatens the future of the Irish Government, and the future of the Irish State.
Although not a shot was fired, the Big Heist was an audacious, incredible crime. After taking their families hostage, the bank robbers forced two senior Northern Bank managers to steal £26.5m from their own employer. Pretending to be emptying out rubbish, the bank officials raided the Northern Bank ultra high-security vault and handed out millions and millions of pounds. The cash alone weighed a quarter of a tonne.
In this investigative Dispatches documentary IRA expert Kevin Toolis goes on the money trail to find out who was really behind the Northern Bank raid. And what the robbers still plan to do with the stolen cash?
Toolis' investigation takes him from the rural idyll of West Cork to a property-investment trip in Bulgaria.
The documentary examines whether key republican figures sanctioned the robbery, their role in the leadership of the Provisional IRA, and charts the extent of the IRA' s criminal global financial empire.
The Big Heist also reveals what the Provisionals intend to spend the money on.