Roscommon gardai are trying to establish the source of a suspicious package, containing a tiny coffin with a bulet inside, which was delivered to the home of the county manager, Mr John Tiernan, on Christmas Eve.
Mr Tiernan reported the delivery of the package to gardai after it arrived at his home at Kiltoom, near Athlone.
Supt Paul Hargadon said yesterday the matter was being treated very seriously. He would not confirm the contents of the package or reports that a note had been included. All he would say was that the Garda was investigating an incident in which a suspicious package was received by a prominent member of the county council.
"We are keeping an open mind on where it might have come from," he added.
The Garda investigation will include interviewing staff of An Post to try and ascertain where the package was posted. The contents are being technically examined.
Mr Tiernan, who returned to work after the Christmas holidays on Thursday, could not be contacted for comment yesterday.
However, a member of the council, Fianna Fail's Senator Terry Leyden, condemned the incident. "It's a very sinister development. It's very worrying that in a democracy people would issue threats against a senior local government official. No issue or decision made by the manager would or could justify such an outrageous action by any individual or group of individuals," he said.
"The arrival of this package on the eve of Christmas would put a dark cloud over the Christmas for the Tiernan family," he added.
Mr Tiernan has a grown-up family and his son has played with the Roscommon senior Gaelic football team.
The chairman of the county council, Fine Gael councillor Mr Gerry Donnelly, said Mr Tiernan was one of the best county managers ever to come to Roscommon.
He took over as county manager less than two years ago, having previously worked as Leitrim county manager.
Mr Donnelly said people in the county were shocked. "I feel very sick about it. You wouldn't mind hearing about something like this happening in the North but in this part of the country it's shocking," he said.
The Cavan county manager and chairman of the City and County Managers' Association, Mr Brian Johnston, said he hoped "the thug or thugs" responsible were apprehended and brought to justice.
There had been similar incidents previously in Clare and elsewhere, he said. "From time to time managers have been subjected to pressure in relation to unpopular decisions they have had to make."
However, he said, Mr Tiernan was a resolute man who would continue to do his job. "He has an idea what it may be about," he added, hinting it may be linked to controversy over "the provision of accommodation for the less well off".
A decision by the council to build a Traveller halting site in Kilteeven, a few miles outside Roscommon town, has caused controversy in recent months.
However, it remains to be seen whether this was in any way connected with the incident being investigated.