Gardaí believe the discovery of a pipe bomb under a car in west Dublin early yesterday may be linked to a feud between young men from the Clondalkin area.
A house at Lindisfarne Vale, Clondalkin, where the device was found, was damaged in a drive-by gun attack just 10 days ago.
Gardaí were alerted to the latest incident just after midnight yesterday after a local resident saw smoke coming from a device which had been place under a car parked outside the house.
Gardaí informed the Army's explosives ordnance disposal (EOD) unit. The team arrived shortly before 4.20am by which time the device had stopped smouldering but had failed to explode.
A number of local residents were evacuated before the area was declared safe. The pipe bomb was taken from the scene and was being examined yesterday by Garda forensic experts and members of the EOD team.
The device was described as a crude home-made pipe bomb. Garda sources said it operated from a fuse rather than a timing device. "The fuse would have been lit before whoever planted it ran off expecting it to explode," said one source.
However, while the device was viable, the fuse mechanism was not constructed properly. It continued to smoulder for a period before the smoke was seen by a passerby and the emergency services alerted.
The faction believed to have planted the pipe bomb is led by a Clondalkin man in his mid 20s. He is suspected of having carried out one murder.
His gang are believed to have killed two other men from the Clondalkin area in gangland-style shootings earlier this year.
On January 23rd Damian Dowdall (23) was shot dead at his home on Lealand Road, Clondalkin. He had a number of drug-dealing associates.
On February 2nd, Thomas McDonagh (28) was shot dead outside his house at St Mark's Crescent, Clondalkin. Like Mr Dowdall's murder, Mr McDonagh's killing was believed to be drug-related and carried out by the same gang.
This faction is made up of a number of very active drug dealers whom gardaí believe have been carrying out shootings and other attacks in a bid to collect debts and establish their supremacy in the Clondalkin drug trade.
The discovery of the pipe bomb yesterday morning is the latest in a series of attacks in which explosive devices have been used by criminal factions.
On May 23rd, a grenade was thrown at the rear of a property in the Rutland Court area of Summerhill, Dublin, as part of an ongoing family-based feud. It exploded, blowing out a number of windows.
On May 20th, a pipe bomb exploded under a car in Finglas, Dublin. Gardaí believe the incident was part of another criminal feud. In April a viable pipe bomb was planted under a car in Clare but failed to explode.
Three similar devices were found in Dublin in late 2005.
