An Army explosives team made safe a quantity of unstable chemical picric acid at the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory in Celbridge, Co Kildare, last night.
The Defence Forces deployed the team to the laboratory where the unstable chemical had been found during a routine audit.
The bomb disposal team arrived on the scene at 5pm and removed the chemical to nearby waste ground. They carried out a controlled explosion and the scene was declared safe at 5.50pm.