Gardai have described a suspected letter-bomb sent to a house in Monaghan town as an "elaborate hoax". They say the device, comprising a battery, copper piping and nails, was not capable of exploding.
Mr Seamus McCleary, the occupant of the house in the Killygoan Estate, called gardai after opening the package, which was posted in Dundalk. The gardai called in the Army's bomb disposal unit, which examined the device and made it safe.