THE GUARDIAN: Irish army forced to make safe a viable bomb found on bus near Dublin on eve of historic royal visitA bomb has been found near Dublin as the Queen is due to arrive inIreland for a historic visit that has been hailed as an "extraordinary moment" in the country's history.
The Irish army was forced to make safe a viable improvised explosive device found on a bus in County Kildare late on Monday night.
The discovery threatens to overshadow the Queen's four-day visit, the first by a British monarch to the Republic of Ireland, although the Foreign Office has said she will still travel to Dublin on Tuesday.
An unprecedented security operation, costing about €30m (£26.2m), is in place to safeguard the Queen and Prince Phillip. It includes land, air and sea patrols and a "ring of steel" around the centre of the Irish capital, where the main thoroughfare, O'Connell Street, has been closed to traffic.
The bomb was discovered in the luggage compartment of the vehicle at a bus stop on the outskirts of Maynooth. An engineering unit from the Irish Defence Forces arrived at 11.10pm after receiving a request from the Garda Síochána.
An Irish military spokesman said a controlled explosion was carried out close to a hotel and the scene was declared safe at 1.55am. The remains of the device were handed over to the Gardai for investigation. » | Adam Gabbatt, Henry McDonald and agencies | Tuesday, May 17, 2011
