Updated 10.45am
THE CONTROVERSIAL NORTH Dublin pub The Player’s Lounge was gutted by a fire following an armed robbery in the early hours of this morning in which a member of staff was tied up.
Gardaí say that a gang of four men entered the Fairview pub shortly after 2am and that one of the men was armed with a handgun. The bar manager, who was on the premises with bar staff, was tied up and a substantial amount of cash was stolen.
A fire then caused extensive damage to the pub:
The Player’s Lounge caused controversy in March when a 40-foot banner appeared outside proclaiming that the Queen was barred from visiting it when she visited Ireland as she did in May.
The pub is owned by John Stokes, 54, who is the father of Celtic and Republic of Ireland striker Anthony Stokes. In May he was charged with making a demand with menaces that the Castle Public House in north Dublin close within 24 hours.
Last year, a man was shot in the head outside the pub after a gunman carrying two guns fired into a group of people standing outside the premises.
Gardaí say they are in the preliminary stages of investigating this latest incident.
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