Gardaí in Limerick are investigating the possibility that the planting of a hoax bomb and the burning of a car at the homes of two prison officers in the city over the past three days are connected.
A suspicious package, described by an army spokesman as "a very elaborate hoax", was removed from the front of a prison officer's home by a bomb disposal expert on Shelbourne Road yesterday afternoon.
Early on Monday morning, a car belonging to a second prison officer in the Raheen area of the city was burnt out following a petrol bomb attack.
Insp John Scanlon of Henry Street Garda station said all possibilities including the "common denominator" that both attacks were on prison officers were being investigated.
Yesterday's hoax bomb resulted in four-hour traffic diversions and the sealing off of a section of the street around the targeted semi-detached house. The prison officer declined to comment.
He waited with colleagues until the all-clear was given by the explosive ordnance disposal team,which travelled from Cork. After the device was checked by an X-ray machine, the bomb-disposal expert carried out an examination.
The attacks were condemned by the general secretary of the Prison Officers' Association, Mr John Clinton, and Mr Pat Laffan, governor of Limerick Prison, which holds about 200 prisoners.
Mr Laffan said it was an appalling situation for prison officers coming under any form of pressure or attack. "Certainly, any attacks on prison officers as public servants is an attack on society."
Mr Clinton described the attacks on prison officers and their families as outrageous and totally unacceptable and called for a full investigation. "The prison service is a vital part of the criminal justice system," he said.
Mr Billy Timmins TD, Fine Gael's deputy spokesman on justice and defence, said procedures for the safety of prison staff needed to be re-examined.