Gardaí suspect pipe bomb was abandoned by criminals
A device described as being “viable” was found under a car outside a house in Ballyfermot in south west Dublin.
Gardaí were alerted to the device on Blackditch Road at around 8.30am yesterday.
They evacuated houses in the immediate area and called out the defence forces’ bomb disposal team.
The army said it made safe what it described as a viable improvised explosive device found under a car.
“A controlled explosion was carried out and the scene was declared safe at 11.30am,” said a defence forces’ spokesman.
“Following further detailed examination the device will be handed over to gardaí for investigation.”
Gardaí said the investigation was at an early stage. However, initial indications suggest the owner of the car was unlikely to have been the intended target. The owner is not believed to be involved in any kind of criminal activity.
Gardaí say that criminals carrying pipe bombs often throw away the device if they see a marked garda car or suspect an unmarked garda car may have passed.
“It happens on numerous occasions that they get spooked for whatever reason and throw the device away under a car,” said one source.
Gardaí point out that pipe bombs are in the main used as warnings and are typically left so that they would be seen and noticed.
“They are meant as a warning. The number of actual explosions are very few,” said one source.
He said they usually were not meant to cause physical harm but “psychological harm”.
The pipe bomb has been taken away for examination by the ballistics section of the Garda Technical Bureau.They will compare it to other devices to see if there are any similarities.
