Morning Ireland

by Vincent Murphy

“Ask them, do they cut the red or the green wire? And why do they always leave it until the countdown clock has less than three seconds on it?”

My friends watch too many movies, I think. But what do the bomb squad do, and how?  It’s something into which we rarely get an insight - for obvious security reasons. We increasingly hear on the news of “viable devices”, “elaborate hoaxes” and “controlled explosions”. But what happens inside that security cordon?

Every night there are bomb disposal teams on duty at several locations around the country. Recently, I spent a few hours with one of them, and in a rare public interview, got the low-down on their job, from someone on the inside. The senior officer I spoke to is not identified for security reasons.

Members of the team are highly qualified – most have university engineering degrees. And bomb disposal is just one of their duties – not their full-time gig. For example, some, because of their ballistics expertise, are involved in the acquisition of army equipment and weapons.

When the army bomb disposal squad is asked to attend a scene, its main priority is the safety of the public.  By the time they get there, the Gardaí will already have evacuated everyone from the area and created a security cordon. The army then makes sure that it is maintained. Even where the suspect item is not a viable device, this distance is crucial, because the army themselves may be carrying explosives.

Making the device safe is the next step. The army has some of the best equipment in the world for dealing with the situation, including bomb blast protective suits (a flattering fit as I think you’ll see) and a robot controlled from inside the army truck (local children often refer to it as Wall-E, I’m told!).

The phrase “controlled explosion” is one we hear all the time. But the army doesn’t just simply blow up all suspect devices. That’s because another priority is to make sure evidence is collected that can help Gardaí in bringing a prosecution in the case. And the squad is acutely aware of its responsibility in that regard.

Pipe bombs and other home-made improvised devices are a serious threat and can cause major injury. But the squad is trained to deal with even bigger threats. It carries out regular drills for major terrorist-style emergencies. Its members are involved in tours of duty in places like Afghanistan and Kosovo, and the Irish Defence Force trains other armies in bomb disposal techniques.

But, for "civvies" like me, there is undeniable fun in dressing up in army blast suits and seeing multi-million euro army technology in action from up-close. Despite being called into action 180 times last year and 130 times already this year, the team got no request on the night I visited (it’s a strange quirk of journalism that you end up disappointed when there is NO bomb threat!).  But nonetheless, I hope my report can give some insight into the brave, and normally unseen, work of the army bomb disposal unit.