Second 'bomb' found ahead of Queen's visit to Ireland

The device, found at a tram stop in Inchicore, Dublin, was made safe by the Irish army.

It follows the discovery of an improvised bomb in the luggage compartment of a bus on the outskirts of Maynooth, near Dublin.

Irish police made the device safe with a controlled explosion in the early hours of this morning.

In the past 24 hours, police in London have also destroyed an abandoned suitcase in a controlled explosion in Trafalgar Square.

Part of the Mall in London, which leads to Buckingham Palace, was closed as officers dealt with the item.

The devices follow a coded threat issued to Scotland Yard by republican dissidents yesterday - but Irish police have vowed it will not alter their security plans.

The telephone threat contained a recognised code word, but did not specify a time or place.

Superintendent John Gilligan said: "Our plan has been in place for a number of weeks.

"Officers from the UK are also part of the plan which is large enough to allow the visit to be conducted in the proper fashion."

A £26m security operation has been launched in Dublin ahead of the Queen's arrival today.

Police are patrolling the streets, parking is prohibited in many areas and large swathes of the city are being closed off.

A former Irish intelligence officer warned the Queen's visit was the "last chance saloon" for a movement that probably has no future.

"The dissidents know that this is really their last chance saloon, as we're probably in the death throes of militant republicanism," Decklan Power  said.

"They're becoming increasingly irrelevant to their cultural heartland in the fringe areas in the north and one or two areas in the south.

"That's why it's also one of the most dangerous times."

When the Queen, joined by the Duke of Edinburgh, arrives in Dublin she will become the first British monarch to travel to the Republic in 100 years and the first since the nation gained independence from Britain.

More than 8,500 Irish police have been mobilised to ensure its success - the biggest security operation in the history of the state.

After being welcomed by President Mary McAleese, the Queen will make one of the more sensitive stops on her visit at the Garden of Remembrance.

She will lay a wreath for those who fought for Irish independence including those who died in the 1916 Easter Rising.

Security officers have said: "There are definitely elements out there who want to disrupt this visit. We just have keep a lid on things."

All locations of the monarch's visit have been checked by security officials, including Mrs McAleese's presidential home in Phoenix Park.

When she hosts the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh there later today, her promise of building bridges will be fully realised.