Explosives found in Dublin flat
CONOR LALLY, Crime Correspondent
A Garda investigation is under way after a Slovakian man unwittingly carried explosives on a commercial flight to Ireland as part of an airport security check that went wrong.
The 49-year-old was one of eight people who had plastic explosives planted in their luggage last Saturday morning at Bratislava airport by the Slovakian security services.
The covert planting of the material in the passengers’ bags was done to test the airport’s security screening.
Security checks at the airport uncovered seven of the concealments. However, the man flying to Dublin was not detected.
He passed through all checks in Bratislava, took his flight to Dublin airport and then travelled into his apartment on Gardiner Street in Dublin’s north inner city.
He unpacked his bag but the explosives had been concealed so well that he did not find them. The Slovakian authorities only realised yesterday that one batch of explosives was missing. They established the Dublin-bound passenger had not been detected.
The airport police at Bratislava airport then contacted their counterparts in Dublin. Gardaí were then alerted, identified the man’s flat and went to it and searched it. The Army’s bomb disposal experts examined the explosives at the scene.
The roads around the apartment complex including Dorset Street, a main artery into the city, were sealed off for an hour, and local apartments and businesses were evacuated. The area was declared safe at 12.05pm.
The 96 grams of plastic explosives were taken away for examination by Garda ballistics experts.
The man at the centre of the incident knew nothing about the explosives that had been planted in his bag. He was arrested at his apartment, but gardaí released him after they satisfied themselves he was innocent. He has been living in Ireland for some time and works here as an electrician. He was returning to Ireland after holidaying in Slovakia over Christmas.
The Government and Garda have been in contact with the Slovakian authorities. The Slovakian Minister for the Interior has already expressed his “profound regret” to Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern.
Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy has appointed Det Chief Supt Martin McLaughlin to establish the full background into the incident.
A failed test of security at Slovakia's Poprad airport resulted in a 49 year-old man unknowingly carrying plastic explosives from Slovakia to Dublin, Ireland. The explosives were concealed so well that the man did not find them when he unpacked his bag at his apartment.

On Saturday, Slovak authorities planted contraband in passengers' luggage at Poprad's Poprad-Tatry Airport without the knowledge of passengers.  Seven of the eight items were recovered, while an eighth made its way to an apartment in Dublin.  Slovak authorities realised on Tuesday that one package of explosives were missing and notified Irish authorities who searched the man's apartment.

During the search, parts of Dublin's inner-suburbs were sealed off and evacuated causing disruption to residents and businesses.  At the apartment authorities found the package and arrested the man under anti-terrorism laws; he was later released without charge after it was established he was innocent.

The man, a Slovakian electrician had been living in Ireland for some time. He was holidaying in Slovakia over Christmas.

Ireland's Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform issued a statement saying, "Following contact earlier today from the Slovakian authorities with the Airport Police at Dublin Airport, members of the Garda Síochána have recovered a small quantity of explosive material from the luggage of a passenger who had flown into Dublin from that country on Saturday last."

The package contained 90 grams (3 ounces) of the plastic explosive RDX, also known as cyclonite or hexogen. According to Commandant Gavin Young, a spokesperson for the Irish Defense Forces, "On their own, this type of explosive does need to be combined with other elements to make it into a bomb, but obviously this type of high-grade explosive is potentially extremely dangerous."

Slovakia's Minister for the Interior Robert Kalinak has apologized to Irish Justice Minister Dermot Ahern over the incident and expressed his “profound regret”. Irish authorities are now investigating the incident and the government has ordered for a full report to be delivered.

The Irish Opposition has expressed concern about the incident. Labour Party spokesman Joe Costello said "This incident led to the closure of roads in the area, the evacuation of businesses and the lives and safety of residents could have been put at risk. We also need to know what protest the government is going to make about this breach of our security."