Gardaí sealed off the entrance to Village Gate, Ballycanew, today.

The army bomb disposal unit was called to a housing estate in Ballycanew village today after a suspicious object was noticed beneath a parked car outside the home of Fiona Doyle and her partner at Village Gate.

Gardaí sealed off the estate for a number of hours and some families were evacuated from their homes.

Children in the near-by primary school were not allowed onto the school yard or playground areas as part of a safety plan co-ordinated by Gardaí.

Fiona Doyle had welcomed the Court of Appeal’s decision to impose a more severe prison sentence on her 74-year-old father for raping her when she was a child.

Patrick O’Brien had originally been given a 12-year jail term with nine years suspended.

O’Brien was originally jailed for three years after admitting to the rape and indecent assault of Fiona when she was a child at their home in Dún Laoghaire from 1973 to 1982.

Fully coverage in next week’s edition of THE ECHO.