Athlone bomb disposal unit called to deal with grenade

The Army bomb disposal squad at Custume Barracks in Athlone was today called to deal with a bomb scare which resulted in Mullingar's Garda station and several houses in the town being evacuated.

Early today a tradesman working at a house in the Newtown Lawns estate in Mullingar brought a grenade that he had found into the Garda station.

The station had to be evacuated as a result.

At 2.17pm the device was taken from station by the army bomb disposal unit for detonation.

A number of houses in the Newtown Lawns estate were subsequently evacuated this afternoon as Gardai launched a follow up search to ensure there were no more explosive devices in the area.

The grenade was identified as a Mills 36.

While the grenade did not have a pin it, the device still had an amount of explosive inside. It is believed to date back to the Civil War.