Police officials in Northern Ireland claim that the Irish Republican Army was involved in December's record setting $41 million bank heist in Belfast. If proven to be true, this news could have a big impact on peace negotiations in the long troubled region.

Chief Constable Hugh Orde was certain of IRA involvement. 'In my opinion the Provisional IRA were responsible for this crime and all main lines of inquiry currently undertaken are in that direction,' he told reporters.

Paul Murphy, Great Briton's secretary of state for Northern Ireland said despite the controversy, this could be a turning point in peace negotiations. 'They [the IRA] have to address criminality once and for all. It's the fork in the road. Perhaps, by bringing it to a head, this is a good thing,' Murphy said.

Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein said that this was part of a British effort to discredit the IRA and derail peace negotiations. 'There are clearly elements within the British system and unionism intent on wrecking the peace process and of using the robbery in Belfast as a pretext for this. They must not be allowed to succeed,' McGuinness said.

The Northern Bank has also announced it would print new notes to make its money easier to track. A spokesman for the bank said, 'All new notes will be of the same design as the old ones, but will be printed in a different colour, feature a new Northern Bank logo, and bear new prefixes to their serial numbers,' it said.

Meanwhile, the investigation into the heist continues.