A marginal political party operating in Ireland has been left in chaos after the disappearance of its “pot of gold” – literally.
Valued at around €400,000 by local media, the treasure trove of numerous gold bars is said to be owned by Ireland’s National Party (NP), a group with no elected MPs, MEPs or Senators.
News that the stash had vanished was first announced by the party’s leader, Justin Barrett, who took to Twitter to note that a “considerable quantity in gold” had gone missing from a safe vault belonging to the NP in Dublin.
Barrett went on to publicly allege that the gold had been taken by two senior members of the party, describing it as an “illegal” and “traitorous” act against the NP, which he called the “last vanguard of the Irish nation”.
According to the party leader, the gold had been gathered as a “hedge” against a possible “collapse” of fiat currencies worldwide.
Fiat currencies, such as the euro, US dollar and British pound, are currencies supported solely by a state’s reputation, not being backed by any sort of precious material or other assets.
Barrett added that he was unilaterally expelling both members he suspected of taking the loot and that Ireland’s police force – An Garda Síochána – had launched a criminal investigation into the incident.
The question of a police investigation into possible illegality has since been thrown into doubt.
Speaking to Brussels Signal, a spokesman for An Garda Síochána confirmed that it was “carrying out enquiries into an allegation of theft from a premises in Dublin”, but stopped short of saying whether a criminal investigation had actually began, as Barrett had claimed.
Ireland’s national broadcaster RTÉ has since claimed that the police had successfully located the gold, that the force was satisfied it is now in a secure location and that it will be informed if the gold goes walkabout again.
Investigators are also only said to be looking into who is the rightful owner of the gold, with the broadcaster saying that officers “have not established that a crime has been committed and have not commenced a criminal investigation” into the matter.
