Irish Police Say Suspicious Parcel Found in Limerick Linked to Letter Bombs Sent to UK
The Irish police service, known as the Gardai, said that the suspicious parcel recently found at a postal sorting office in Ireland's city of Limerick looked identical to four letter bombs sent by a group styling itself as the New Irish Republican Army (IRA) to different locations in the United Kingdom earlier in March
Last week, the UK police said the New IRA, a breakaway group from the original IRA, which was linked to years of terrorism in Northern Ireland, claimed responsibility for sending five suspected explosive devices in packages to a number of homes across the United Kingdom. Only four out of five packages sent by the group have been recovered by the police so far.
"An Garda Síochána are currently investigating a parcel of interest identified at the Limerick An Post sorting office shortly after 6am this morning [06:00 GMT], 22 March 2019.
This parcel appears to be identical to parcels (pending closer forensic and ballistic examination) discovered earlier this month in London and Glasgow," the police said in a press release.
The press release added that the Army Explosive Ordinance Disposal was currently working at the scene. The police continue to interact with the UK authorities in relation to the investigation.
According to the RTE broadcaster, Irish Minister for Justice and Equality Charlie Flanagan said that the uncertainty over Brexit had resulted in rising tensions in Northern Ireland, which subsequently led to the letter bombs being sent.
The issue of Northern Ireland remains a thorny one in Brexit talks. The main challenge for London is to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland while, at the same time, securing the nation's integrity.