RESIDENTS IN Dublin's Pimlico area have expressed fears for their children following an incident in which a "viable" pipe bomb was hidden in a Pringles crisps box and attached to a car parked outside a block of flats.
An Army bomb disposal team made the device safe yesterday morning after residents in the Braithwaite Street flat complex in the south inner city were first evacuated by gardaí in the morning.
Mother of two Jacqueline Buckley (41) said it was fortunate the incident happened during a holiday period as children could have been attracted to the crisps container and this could have caused "chaos".
A spokesman for the Defence Forces confirmed that the improvised explosive was in working order and tests on its constituent parts were carried out yesterday to establish its potency.
A controlled explosion took place on the box just after 10am, said the spokesman, who added the disguising of this "precarious device" in readily recognisable packaging was "disturbing".
He added that in many cases, such home-made constructions were crude and therefore very dangerous and unpredictable.
Supt Thady Muldoon of Kevin Street Garda station said detectives were examining whether the incident was connected to an attack in the Liberties area last June, in which a grenade was thrown at the wall of a house.
It happened at Park Terrace, between Meath Street and Francis Street, and gardaí were then investigating whether that attack was part of a row between a former INLA man and local rivals.
Supt Muldoon said he did not believe yesterday's explosive discovery was linked to the Crumlin/Drimnagh feud.
He commented that the use of the cylindrical crisp container to hide the bomb was a "first" in his district, saying the danger would not have been immediately obvious. The bomb was taped to a three-year-old Nissan Almera that was parked in front of the Braithwaite Street flats and facing a number of front doors on ground level.
Dozens of residents were evacuated from their homes from 8.30am yesterday and were only able to return to their homes or parked cars almost three hours later, having stood outside in the cold for the duration.
One resident said the bomb was attached to the wing mirror of the car and was connected to a piece of string that led underneath the main body of the car, but neither the Garda nor the Defence Forces would confirm specific details.
Anthony Connaughton (36) said his car was parked beside the Almera. "I saw a green tube of Pringles. I recognised the colour of the box because I work in a pub. It had black and red wires sticking outside the front of it.
"We were having breakfast at the time. We were told to leave the house at about 8.40am and told to leave our mobiles off in case they might detonate the bomb. I was quite worried because I have two kids. I have never seen anything like this here as it's a quiet area," he said.
Supt Muldoon appealed to anyone with information about the device to contact Kevin Street Garda station on 01 6669400.