An unknown loyalist group, or a disturbed person with bomb-making knowledge, might have been responsible for sending the videotape bomb to the Dublin Tourist offices in St Andrew's Street, gardai believe.
The bomb contained an explosive compound in a 4 in-long tube. This was in a condom, connected to batteries and trip switch, and was designed to detonate when the parcel was opened.
The envelope containing the device had four 1p UK stamps and a smudged postal mark, so it was unclear if the parcel had actually been posted in Northern Ireland or Britain, or whether someone had delivered it by hand and tried to fake the postal mark.
No claim purporting to come from any known organisation accompanied the device. The last loyalist terrorist group to attempt bomb attacks in the Republic, the Loyalist Volunteer Force, declared a ceasefire last Friday, so no known loyalist group is suspected.
However, there have been a number of parcel-bomb attacks in the North in the past year. In March the central sorting office in Belfast had to be cleared when a device exploded.
There have been a number of bomb hoaxes in Dublin in the last few years which were probably the work of people with no known political motivation. The most recent was on April 20th when an elaborate hoax bomb was placed in a flood drain on the North Strand. That device was accompanied by a letter from someone who appeared to be mentally disturbed.
The device sent to the tourist offices was discovered by a member of staff opening mail shortly before 10 a.m. The Army's Explosive Ordnance Disposal team was called and defused the device.
During a visit to the offices the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Dr McDaid, praised the staff for their "calm and bravery" in dealing with the incident.
It was ironic, Dr McDaid said, that a tourist officer should be targeted as tourism was "an area in which mutually beneficial NorthSouth co-operation has been ongoing". "This regrettable incident illustrates how important it is that we get a resounding Yes vote, North and South, next Friday," he added.
Dr Pat Upton, the Labour Party spokesman on justice, also condemned the bomber, saying it was likely that the device was the work of loyalists against the Belfast Agreement.