A record number of pipebombs were found last year, figures reveal.

A five-year-old boy could have been blinded and seriously disfigured if a package containing an incendiary device had ignited after it was delivered to a family home, according to gardaí.

Surgeons are continuing their efforts to save some of the fingers of a five-year-old boy who had part of his hands blown off in a horror pipebomb attack outside his home in Wicklow.

Gardaí are appealing to the consciences of those who have information about the bomb blast which ripped apart a child’s hands on Wednesday morning.