A 65-year-old man has been jailed for eight and a half years for putting a bomb on a bus ahead of Queen Elizabeth’s visit in 2011.
Donal Billings of St. Bridget’s Court in Drumlish, Co. Longford was also convicted of making false bomb threats during her trip.
On the day before Queen Elizabeth’s arrival, Gardaí received a call warning that a bomb had been planted on the Ballina to Dublin bus.
It was intercepted in Maynooth, Co KIldare and an improvised device with a firework as a detonator and some flammable liquid was found on board.
Further calls claiming Dublin castle and Cork airport were being targeted were found to be hoaxes.
In arriving at that eight and a half year sentence, Mr. Justice Tony Hunt described the placing of a bomb on a Dublin bound bus full of passengers and an innocent driver as an “outrageous and highly dangerous act”.
He also handed down concurrent sentences for the hoax calls.
Detective Inspector Pat Finlay welcomed the sentence handed down today.
