Update 12pm
Captain Ciara Ni Ruairc from the Defence Forces explains what was found: “Its basic components, so component parts, of an improvised explosive device.
“The army bomb disposal team arrived on scene at approximately 6.50am this morning, and thereafter they made an assessment of the area, and then the scene was declared safe at 7.30am.”
Earlier
Gardaí this morning arrested a dissident republican carrying bomb parts just yards outside one of the country’s busiest garda stations writes Cormac O’Keefe.
The area around the station had to be sealed off, a section of the Luas Red-Line closed, and a nearby hostel evacuated while gardaí called in the Army bomb disposal team.
Gardaí conducted a stop and search on a man at Store Street, in Dublin’s north inner city, right beside Store Street garda station, shortly after 6am.
Sources said the man, aged in his mid-40s, is a dissident republican but indicated he was not connected to the Kinahan-Hutch feud, which has claimed seven lives, four of them in the north inner city.
“He’s a dissident, but is not linked to the Hutch gang,” said one source this morning.
A number of dissident republicans, including murdered Michael Barr, have been associated with the Hutch gang and some were involved in the Regency Hotel attack on February 5 last, which claimed the life of Kinahan lieutenant, David Byrne.
A Garda statement said that the gardaí arrested the man “following an incident” which occurred just after 6am on Store Street.
“A man (mid-40s) was stopped and searched and is currently detained under Section 30, Offences Against the State Act 1939 at Irishtown garda station,” the statement said.
It said that the Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team was called in and had removed a “suspect package”.
A statement from the Defence Forces said that the team “removed component parts of an Improvised Explosive Device” from the scene.
“The Army Bomb Disposal Team arrived on scene at 06.50am, where an assessment was made on the components,” the statement said.
“The area was cordoned off in the interest of public safety. The component parts were removed to a safe military installation for further examination. The scene was declared safe at 7.30am.”
It said “all items of evidential nature” had been handed over to the Gardaí to assist them with their investigations.
These items have been taken to the Technical Bureau at Garda HQ for ballistic and forensic analysis.
