An unexploded bomb shell was taken away to be destroyed by the Army's Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) team after it was discovered at 3.15 p.m. just off Dublin's South Circular Road yesterday.
The six-pound live shell, which was found by a man cleaning out his shed on Greenville Terrace, is believed to have dated from the first World War.
Although the discovery did not necessitate an evacuation of the area, the shell had the potential to cause severe damage to the house in question had it exploded, according to an army spokesman. "These things are potentially lethal, so the message we want to get across is, if you are not sure, then always call it in."
The shell will be destroyed by the Army later this week, he added.
Charity heavily reliant on public
The Society of St Vincent de Paul is relying more than ever on public donations and support to keep up with growing demands on its services, its national president has said.
Speaking in advance of the publication of the society's annual report today, Mr Brian O'Reilly said:
"we rely more than ever on the commitment of our 9,000 volunteers and the public's support".
The society spent over €600,000 every week of last year fighting poverty in Ireland, he said, while calls to its head-office's helpline more than doubled this year as compared with 2002. Mr O'Reilly said the 'Help' Budgets were revised up by up to 25 per cent in some areas for this winter.
The charity will also launch its annual appeal for help which will run until December 14th. "Ireland now ranks top of the list of the EU countries with the biggest gap between its richest and poorest people," said Mr O'Reilly.
In its recent pre-budget submission the charity called for an increase in the lowest social welfare rates of €15 to €140, for the removal of all minimum wage earners from the tax net, an increase in the Back to School Allowance and an extension of eligibility to Family Income Supplement.
Man held after cocaine seizure
A man was still being held yesterday following a drugs seizure of €125,000 worth of cocaine on Friday.
The cocaine was seized after gardaí stopped and searched a car at a routine checkpoint in the Clonshaugh area of Dublin. In a follow-up search of a house in the area gardaí recovered a sawn-off shotgun and a further €1,000 worth of cocaine was discovered.
The man was being held in Santry Garda Station under Section 2 of the Drug Trafficking Act.
Call to publish Temple Bar report
A Dublin city councillor yesterday called for the publication of an architect's report which he said had been submitted to the board of Temple Bar Properties within the last week. Mr Chris Andrews (FF) said architects Howley Harrington had submitted the report to the company.
The original excellent vision for Temple Bar had been hijacked and the main beneficiaries had been publicans and hoteliers to the detriment of residents and small businesses, he said. Temple Bar was capable of being rescued and the architect's report presented the best opportunity to date to achieve that turn around, Mr Andrews said.