Weekend of paramiltary activity

Gardai have just said that the Irish Army has diffused what has been described as a "viable improvised explosive device" left outside a so-called 'head shop' in Letterkenny. A number of residents were evacuated from their homes during the alert.

Such shops have been associated with the selling of 'legal highs' and have been targeted in recent months by dissident republicans.

The Buncrana Road between Londonderry and Bridgend, just across the Donegal border has been reopened following a security alert.

The bomb scare followed the discovery of a white Ford Transit van that had been hijacked by four masked men on the Coshquin Road shortly before 7.30pm on Sunday night, March 28.

It is being reported that the gang said they were from the Real IRA. The driver of the vehicle was unhurt but left shaken by the ordeal.

The alert turned out to be a hoax.

And, at approximately 9.30pm on Friday night five men dressed in camouflage-style clothing tried to force their way into a house in the Carnhill area.

Unable to gain access through the kitchen door one fired a shotgun through a glass panel. Two men were in the house at the time but were uninjured.

Police have appealed for information.