Bomb Threat on Queen's Irish Visit

The Guardian reports:

The Queen has arrived in Ireland for a historic visit as it emerged that the Irish army was forced to make safe a viable improvised explosive device found on a bus.

The royal party touched down at an airstrip at Baldonnel, near Dublin, on Tuesday at the start of four-day visit – the first by a British monarch to the Republic of Ireland.

The bomb was discovered in the luggage compartment of the vehicle at a bus stop on the outskirts of Maynooth, in Co Kildare late on Monday night. 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.

The bomb discovery comes after a dissident republican terror alert brought parts of London to a standstill on Monday.

Some opposition to the royal visit has been voiced as dissident republican violence rises. But both the British and Irish governments say they hope the official trip will hasten a new and better relationship between the people of Ireland and Britain, built on equality and mutual respect.

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. ...