Gardaí examine car seized in grenade investigation

GARDAÍ are forensically examining a car seized as part of an investigation into one of two grenade attacks in Dublin last week.

Detectives arrested a man who was driving the car when it was spotted by gardaí in south county Dublin last Wednesday.

A car fitting the same description had been seen driving suspiciously in the Coombe area of the south inner city last Tuesday night at the time of a grenade explosion outside a house.

The man, in his late 20s and originally from Dublin, was arrested and detained under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act. He was released without charge on Friday after 48 hours’ detention.

“It’s a significant arrest and the result of good co-operation with locals. There are no charges at the moment,” said a garda source.

Garda inquiries are ongoing and a file is expected to be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Gardaí are examining the car for forensic clues and will hold onto it if it is needed as an exhibit in any future prosecution.

Detectives believe the bomb attack is linked to a row between republican terrorist gang, the INLA, and local drug dealers.

The local INLA unit, led by a man recently released from jail, is thought to be extorting money from the drug dealers.

Two local dealers were subjected to a bad beating by the INLA gang outside a nearby pub the day before the attack. One of the dealers lived in the house targeted on Tuesday.

The two men have since gone to ground.

Meanwhile, gardaí in the neighbouring areas of Crumlin and Drimnagh remain on high alert after last week’s second grenade attack on Thursday night.

The explosion on Slane Road in Crumlin is linked to the murder of local man Derek Glennon in Mountjoy Jail the previous Monday. A garda helicopter kept watch over the area at the weekend.