Gang members who fled the scene of an armed intervention by gardaí following a robbery with hostage taking evaded arrest on foot and are believed to have escaped with a large sum of money.

About €80,000 was stolen during the kidnapping and that one bag of cash, containing up to half the total amount, is still unaccounted for.

Of the three men involved in the incident, one was being questioned by gardaí tonight while a manhunt was underway for his accomplices.

The man being questioned was driving the getaway car that was fired at by members of the Emergency Response Unit. It failed to stop after the two other men got out and took to the fields near Malahide in north Dublin to escape arrest.

The incident began at about 1am today when the three-man gang called to a house in Seabury, Malahide, and took three women hostage. The eldest of the women is the postmistress at Bayside post office, north Dublin.

Her daughter and a European student staying in the family’s home while studying in Ireland were also at the house when the raiders called. They were also held at gunpoint.

The gang remained with the women for a period in the house. The postmistress was then taken to the post office in Bayside.

However, the cash was not available until this morning because a time lock had been set to restrict access to the money until close to the time the business normally opens. The gang prolonged the hostage-taking until such time that the money was available.

During this period, the alarm was raised after security protocols for such incidents were followed. They stipulate that money should not leave a financial institution for a kidnap gang unless the Garda has been informed.

A rapid reaction operation, which involved local gardai and the ERU, was begun immediately the alarm was raised.

When the money was taken from the safe and given to the gang, gardaí tracked the movements of the vehicle carrying the cash and the men until moving in to stop them near Malahide Castle off Malahide Road.

It was at that point that the shots were fired and the driver of the car crashed the vehicle and was arrested as the other two men fled on foot.

The arrested man is in his 20s and has had addresses in Swords, north Dublin and in the inner city.

Gardaí believe they know the identities of the other men involved and say both spoke with Dublin accents. Both are in their late 40s or early 50s. One is described as having white hair and being of “chubby” build and about 5’ 10” in height, wearing dark leggings and a similar top.

The other man is also described as “chubby”, had dark grey hair and was wearing blue runners with a green stripe.

Gardaí said the women taken hostage were traumatised and appealed for the media to respect their privacy. News of the ongoing operation was subjected to a media blackout until after it came to a conclusion.