Bomb Scare in Dublin

dublin | miscellaneous | news report

Wednesday May 12, 2004 18:39

by Shankar Sharma

shanks1980 at hotmail dot com

Bomb scare today, Wednesday May 12, in the heart of the capital.

Half of Middle Abbey Street was cordoned off for over an hour this afternoon, as the Garda and the army dealt with a bomb scare.

A visible Garda presence emerged on the street - currently undergoing road works - shortly after 3pm, and sealed the area adjoining O'Connell Street within half an hour. Traffic and pedestrians were demanded to take a detour while shop and office staff were requested to evacuate their work places, which were then boarded up. "I'm not too bothered, that's the afternoon off work!" quipped one shop worker.

As the Garda presence grew, a larger area of the street was cordoned off. Bystanders were urged to "Get back" as half the street - stretching up to Independent House - was sealed. Word of the 'bomb scare' quickly scattered, with barriers having to be erected on the O'Connell Street side to prevent the increasing number of onlookers from breaching the area.

The army were alerted and a bomb disposal unit duly arrived at 3.45pm. A 'suspicious package' had been left lying close to the Ladbrokes betting shop. Three soldiers in protetcive clothing gave the package a lengthy examination, before detonating it at 4.20.

The loud bang however was not accompanied by any damage. There was next to no flying debris or escaped shrapnel. It quickly emerged to all who had gathered that the incident had been a false alarm.

By 4.45, the area was re-opened to the public. A glance at the site of the 'suspicious package' revealed the contents of something little more innocuous than a spray paint can or a glue gun. The Garda offered little explanation.

"Go Away!" was the curt response

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Comments (17 of 17)

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no no no

by david

Wed May 12, 2004 18:57

it was an elaborate hoax

it coiuldn't possiby have been somebody's shopping.

This is the same police force that recently sent a childrens toy off for a post mortem to confirm that it wasn't a human body.

Photos from the scene on Middle Abbey Street....

by redjade

Wed May 12, 2004 19:04

{ photos by redjade } (c)

Wed May 12, 2004 19:05

¿do we all feel safer now?

by !

Wed May 12, 2004 19:33

- still it's nice to know no-one was hurt.

;;;

by evilbulliton

Wed May 12, 2004 19:51

evilbulliton at yahoo dot co dot uk

Hey!
I thought I was the only one who knew of
fusion anomaly.

Now that it has been revealed it is imperitive everyone goes visit.

fusion-anomaly.net

watch the skies

by elron

Wed May 12, 2004 20:42

I wonder who the scientologists will blame for this 'obvious' sign of prejudice against their church, tee hee, is it the Sacred Church of William S Burroughs or the independant newspaper whose unblinking windows watch them every day and from whom every curtain twitch is an invasion of privacy... in my psychic eye i can just see parchment skinned Lord imhotep O Reilly discreetly placing a plastic bag to freak out the one true church.......

Good pics Red

by Lone Gunman

Wed May 12, 2004 21:37

Especially the B/W photos.Do you do this professionally?

Excercise

by Drbinoche

Wed May 12, 2004 23:09

It could have been a readiness Excercise. I mean it is possible, just to see how the BDU and the Garda would behave should such a thing happen. Its quite possible what with Bush visiting in June.

the "Bomb"

by Peter

Thu May 13, 2004 01:11

Wantabie journalists have been known to plant these things in the past and just "Happen" to be around to get the "exclusive". What were you at today by the way mister reporter

Socialist Party

by Dzherzhinsky

Thu May 13, 2004 10:27

Didnt the SP in their old Militant guise have their HQ above Ladbrokes or next door?

Maybe this was an attempt by the ruling class to destroy the leadership of the revolutionary workers and youth.

Dzherzhinsky is confused

by John Gallagher

Thu May 13, 2004 11:00

It was Democratic Left who had an office there. Ladbrokes were giving good odds of us (sorry them) not staying together for a decade.
I had a little flutter and I am now writing this from Marbella. Lovely views.

by j26

Thu May 13, 2004 11:11

Isn't it lucky that the Luas isn't running yet?

It would have been delayed for hours.

(as opposed to years!)

P.S.

Thu May 13, 2004 11:17

That delay while the bomb was defused probably put the Luas back by 6 months and it will now cost an extra €52 million to complete it. Unfortunately the government spent it's last €52m on voting machines just last week, so the Luas will never go ahead due to lack of funds.

Sorry about all the roadworks for the last few years.

Not confused at all

by Dzerzhinsky

Thu May 13, 2004 11:21

MIlitant were upstairs above the building next to Book Bargains.

Sorry Dzerzhinsky

Thu May 13, 2004 11:29

One gets confused here in the heat of Marbella.
"Hey Prionsias, shouldn't you be getting back to see off that young pup".

I find this interesting

by Cop Watch

Thu Jul 15, 2004 17:41

Gardaí behind planting of hoax bombs, finds inquiry

Two members of the Garda Síochána, including a superintendent, orchestrated the planting of ammunition and hoax explosive devices in Co Donegal, a report from the Morris Tribunal today found.

The report from the first module of the inquiry also revealed senior Garda management in the county failed to uncover these activities and this negligence allowed the hoaxes to continue over time.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell described the findings as extremely serious and called for immediate action to be taken.

The Morris Tribunal is examining allegations of Garda corruption in Co Donegal throughout the 1990s.

What's the problem??

by whats_the_problem

Thu Apr 20, 2006 10:30

What is the problem with people on this board? It would have been worse if they had ignored it and it turned out to be real bomb! Then we'd all be bashing the gardai for incompetence. They can't win! I would be more keen to direct my insults and anger at the dumb-asses who think they were clever doing this, or who thought it might be funny. Given the history of bombings in Ireland and tensions in the north, given the amount of people killed by them, and given the international terrorist attrocities that have been carried out over the last handful of years, I think the people who came up with this tasteless hoax are nothing more than complete scumbags.

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Bomb Scare in Dublin

Comments (17 of 17)