The Irish Minister, Dick Roche has spoken out about his kidnap orderal, when masked gunmen used him as a "human shield" during a raid.

The incident happened on Monday while the minister was staying at the five-star Marriott Hotel at Druid's Glen.

Mr Roche described how he was mistaken for the hotel manager preparing to lodge the hotel's takings, as he brought his swimming gear to his car.

The minister said he immediately feared for his life: "At first I didn't know what was going on. I didn't have any money and that led me to think this was a political event."

Nine captives, including Mr Roche, his driver and seven staff members, were then marched to a strongroom, where the raiders seized around €20,000 in cash before locking the hostages in.

One of the staff members had managed to secret a phone and contacted gardaí.

"The staff in the hotel behaved absolutely admirably. We were very fortunate in that when we were locked in the strong room one of the group managed to keep a phone hidden and rang the gardaí at the point of the people leaving the hotel.

"We got through to them and they were here in remarkably fast time. The robbers had about eight to 10 minutes to get away."

No shots were fired during the robbery and nobody was injured.

Security surrounding Mr Roche was being stepped up last night, despite his claim that the men had not recognised him and had mistaken him for a hotel manager.

(DW)