THE ARMY BOMB Disposal Team rendered safe a viable pipe bomb in Carrick on Shannon, Co Leitrim this morning.

Gardaí were made aware of the device by a member of the public who in turn alerted the Defence Forces.

It was found in a rural woodland area 5km north of Carrick on Shannon. A cordon and road closures were put in place for public safety.

A spokesperson for the Defence Forces said the bomb “could have caused serious injury to anyone who came into contact with it”.

They added that the area in which the bomb was found was so rural it was “very hard” for the bomb disposal team or gardaí to know which townland it fell into.

The team arrived on scene at 9.50am and made the device safe at the scene without the need for a controlled explosion.

Items of an evidential nature were handed over to the gardaí to assist them with their investigation. The scene was declared safe at 12.15pm.

This was the 76th call out so far in 2015, dealing with 20 viable devices to date.

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