Pipe bombs found in garden shed

Detectives were tonight investigating criminal links to nine pipe bombs hidden in a suburban garden shed.

The devices were uncovered at the rear of a recently-vacated semi-detached house in Swords, north Dublin, by Garda officers acting on a tip-off.

A number of neighbouring homes in Bunbury Crescent, Applewood, were evacuated for several hours while Army bomb disposal experts made the scene safe.

No controlled explosion was carried out.

A Defence Forces spokesman confirmed the nine devices were “viable” and contained all the necessary components to cause considerable damage.

One Garda source said they were not primed.

Neighbours in the area said the former occupants of the house – which is for sale – had only left in recent weeks.

The improvised pipe bombs were discovered at around 11am.

The area was later declared safe at 4.30pm after an almost three-hour operation by the Army’s explosives ordnance disposal team.

The devices were handed over to the Garda for technical examination.

A number of other suspect components were also removed from the scene, which remained sealed off as Garda forensic experts carried out an examination.