Garda appeal as boy hurt in blast

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.

PJ Duffy, 5, from Co Wicklow had seven fingers blown off when he innocently picked up a pipe bomb outside his front door.

Surgeons at Crumlin Children’s Hospital have been working hard to try and save some of the fingers.

Four digits in one hand and three in the other were severed when the bomb blew up in his hands. The boy also received blast damage to his face and head.

The shocking attack happened outside the boy’s house on Sycamore Drive in Newtownmountkennedy just after 8am as he was about to go on a sponsored cycle.

He lived in the house with his mother, a younger brother and a teenage brother. The boy’s mother has been left deeply traumatised by the attack.

A massive Garda operation, headed by detectives in Bray, backed up by specialist national units, is under way to track down those behind the bomb.

“With a young boy seriously injured we are hoping someone would feel accountable and come forward,” said a Garda source. “I can’t imagine anyone would want to do that to a child.

“We would appeal to anyone, whether those directly involved or those who know something about them, to do the right thing and contact us.”

Gardaí are investigating if the bomb had been placed at the wrong house and that someone else was the intended target. There are local feuds in the area between other families and this may be linked with that.

But Garda sources stress they do not have a definite line of inquiry and are reluctant to engage in speculation.

Gardaí have been putting out appeals on local radio in a bid for information about those responsible. They have also carried out local house-to-house inquiries to see if anyone saw anyone or anything suspicious in the estate between 9pm on Tuesday and 8am Wednesday.

Gardaí have established that the bomb had not been placed at the front door before 9pm.

The National Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Special Detective Unit are assisting local detectives. The SDU is carrying out an ongoing investigation, called Operation Enchant, to combat the proliferation of pipe-bombings.

They have so far arrested 70 people and brought charges against 23 individuals.

Anyone with information can contact Bray Garda Station on 01-6665300.