Army warning after man took viable pipebomb from playing children

The man who took a pipebomb away from children who had been playing with it probably saved them from death or serious maiming — but also put his own life in danger.

Commandant Michael Doyle, the press officer for the Defence Forces in Cork, said the pipebomb discovered at a green in Gurranabraher was viable and could have caused serious harm.

He compared the situation to a case in Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow, last June when a five-year-old boy picked up a pipebomb outside his house. He lost a number of fingers as a result.