VIDEO: Second pipebomb made safe in Cork city

Gardaí have vowed to track down those responsible for a second pipebomb incident on the northside of Cork City in just 48 hours.

Army bomb disposal experts carried out a controlled explosion to make safe a viable pipebomb which was left on the doorstep of a house on the Kilmore Road in Knocknaheeny yesterday morning.

Detectives are investigating a possible link between the discovery of this sophisticated device, which had wires, batteries, and a detonator, and another viable but less sophisticated pipebomb which was left in the garden of a house in a nearby housing estate on Wednesday.

It is believed the intended target of the midweek incident was a man with a conviction for drug dealing who has family links to another man serving a jail term.

Gardaí were conducting door-to-door enquiries in the area again yesterday as they tried to establish a possible connection between both attacks.

Senior officers, who are keeping an open mind in relation to yesterday’s incident, said innocent lives were put at risk on both occasions.

The occupants of the house on Kilmore Road — a man and his two sons in their 20s — discovered a suspect device on the doorstep of their house at around 9.15am yesterday.

Gardaí were alerted, 12 houses were evacuated, a cordon was put in place, and the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Unit at Collins Barracks was tasked.

An EOD officer wearing full body armour inspected the device in situ and when it was declared viable, the cordon was extended by several hundred feet and the road was closed.

A decision was taken to carry out a controlled explosion at the scene, which was declared safe at 12.30pm.

The device was then removed to a secure military location and items of an evidential nature were handed over to gardaí for further investigation.

Superintendent Con Cadogan appealed to those responsible for placing the pipebombs to reflect on their actions.

“I would urge them to seriously look at what they are doing,” he said.

“They are putting a lot of peoples’ lives at risk — a lot of very innocent peoples’ lives are being put at risk.”

He also appealed to the public for information.

“We would appeal to anyone who saw anything or anyone in the area between 11pm on Thursday and 9am yesterday to contact us. There is no doubt that there are people out there who know who is involved,” he said.

“We would asked for people to contact gardaí in confidence. Any information will be treated in the strictest of confidence. We want to reassure people that we want to get to the root of this. We want to stamp it out and deal with the perpetrators.”

The device recovered during Wednesday’s incident is still undergoing forensic and ballistics analysis at the State Forensics Lab, with detectives expecting a report over the weekend.

Local Sinn Féin councillor Mick Nugent said there is huge concern locally after the second pipebomb attack in two days.

“I said after Wednesday’s incident that this is a rare occurrence in this area but to have it happen again two days later is of huge concern,” he said.

“The people involved in this have no regard for the safety of local people. This device was planted at the front door of a house and could have caused serious injury or worse, a fatality.”

Yesterday’s incident was the Collins Barracks-based EOD unit’s third pipebomb call-out this week.

On Tuesday night, bomb squad experts diffused what was described as a crude yet viable pipebomb which had been left on the path outside a house on Upper Gerald Griffin St in Limerick City.