INLA suspected in car bomb hoax

MEMBERS of Republican terror group, the INLA, are suspected of planting a hoax bomb under crime journalist Paul Williams’ car.

A father of a nine-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son and the Sunday World's crime editor, Mr Williams and his family were evacuated from their home along with about 130 neighbours in the south Dublin suburb of Walkinstown following the discovery of the device in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The device had most of the components of a bomb wires, batteries, putty and a circuit board but there were no explosives. Gardaí say people skilled at manufacturing explosives were behind the hoax.

The hoax device was spotted by off-duty gardaí passing the house at the end of their shift at around 3am. Mr Williams praised the gardaí but vowed not to be intimidated by those in the criminal underworld who he has been exposing for more than a decade.

"F*** them," he said.

Gardaí from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Special Detective Unit are investigating the threat while the Williams family, who returned to their house after the hoax, are under 24-hour armed police protection.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell, who Mr Williams has criticised for cutting garda resources, condemned the intimidation attempt.

"He has been kept fully briefed on security arrangements and has full confidence that the gardaí carry out such duties in a professional manner, as has been demonstrated today," a spokesman said.

He said the minister had no role in operational matters after Mr Williams said garda cutbacks led to protection being removed despite a threat on his life.

Mr Williams said he and his family were fine, and paid tribute to friends and the 37 neighbouring families evacuated during the alert.

Vowing to continue reporting on crime, he said: "They are not going to intimidate or threaten me. They have killed two of my colleagues, and it is not going to happen any more."

Veronica Guerin was shot dead in 1996, while Martin O'Hagan, a Sunday World reporter in the North, was murdered by loyalists two years ago.

Mr Williams said what distressed him most was that his neighbours, including a two-week-old baby, had to be evacuated as an army bomb disposal team dealt with the suspect device. The families were evacuated to a local school, where they were given food and drink by nuns, before returning to their homes at 6am.

The device described by garda sources as a "a very elaborate hoax" was declared safe by the Army after a controlled explosion using a robot machine. Mr Williams said CCTV tapes captured a person planting the device.