Ireland Case No. 1710Possession of a firearm, possession of controlled drugs (cannabis, heroin) · Co. Dublin
Drone bomb crash in Finglas under investigation
A drone carrying an improvised explosive device crashed at the home of an innocent family in Glenties Park, Finglas, Dublin 11, on Sunday night, May 4, 2025, or Monday, May 5, 2025, in what Gardaí said was the first time a bomb had been delivered by drone in Ireland. The device, believed to be targeting a criminal's home in a feud between rival gangs, failed to detonate and was made safe by the Defence Forces EOD team. On May 8, Gardaí conducted eight searches in Finglas, seizing a pump-action shotgun, 26 rounds of ammunition, four motorcycles, approximately €10,000 in cannabis, heroin worth €4,200, and a tracking device. No arrests have been made and the investigation into the drone attack and the possession of a firearm and controlled drugs is ongoing.
- Reported5 May
6 reports - Arrested
- Charged
- In court
- Verdict
- Sentenced
reportedhappened, not reportedlatest stagenot yet
Key facts
consolidated from all reports- What happened
- A drone carrying an improvised explosive device crashed at a house in Glenties Park, Finglas, Dublin 11, in what Gardaí said was the first time a bomb had been delivered by drone in Ireland.
- Where
- The drone crashed at a home in Glenties Park, Finglas, Dublin 11, north Dublin.
- When
- The drone crashed at around 9pm or 11pm on Sunday night, May 4, 2025, or on Monday, May 5, 2025, and eight searches were conducted on Thursday, May 8, 2025.
- Cause
- The IED was being flown towards a target elsewhere as part of a feud between rival crime gangs in Finglas over control of the drugs trade.
- Weapon
- The drone carried an improvised explosive device described as a pipe bomb with an electronic charging component that failed to detonate when the drone crashed.
- Investigation
- The Defence Forces EOD team made the device safe after a controlled explosion, and the drone and device were recovered for forensic examination.
- Eight searches at residences in Finglas were conducted on May 8, 2025, supported by the Garda Emergency Response Unit, Armed Support Unit, and Dog Unit.
- No arrests have been made and Gardaí said investigations are ongoing.
- Charges
- A pump-action shotgun, 26 rounds of ammunition, four motorcycles, approximately €10,000 in cannabis, heroin worth €4,200, a tracking device, and phones were seized.
- Other details
- Gardaí believe the drone attack and a petrol bomb and shotgun attack around the same time were carried out by the same gang.
- Gardaí do not believe there is a subversive involvement.
92 statements extracted from the articles
- whatA drone carrying a pipe bomb crashed at a house in a north Dublin suburb in the early hours of Monday. (irishtimes.com)
- whatA drone carrying an improvised explosive device crashed into a home in Glenties Park. (rte.ie)
- whatThe IED was being flown towards a target elsewhere, not the family's home (irishmirror.ie)
- whatThe IED was more sophisticated than a pipe bomb and had an electronic charging component (irishmirror.ie, dublinlive.ie)
- whatIt is the first time in Ireland that a bomb has been delivered by drone (irishmirror.ie)
- whatSeveral houses in the area were evacuated during the EOD operation (irishmirror.ie)
- whatA house was petrol bombed and shot up with a shotgun around the same time as the IED incident (irishmirror.ie, dublinlive.ie)
- whatGardaí believe the drone attack and petrol bomb were carried out by the same gang (irishmirror.ie)
- whatA home-made IED was delivered by drone, the first time in Ireland a bomb has been delivered that way. (dublinlive.ie)
- whatThe drone was being flown towards a target elsewhere, not the family's home. (dublinlive.ie)
- whatGardaí conducted a number of searches at residences in the Finglas area on Thursday morning. (irishmirror.ie)
- whatA pump-action shotgun was seized. (irishmirror.ie)
- what26 rounds of ammunition were seized. (irishmirror.ie, irishtimes.com)
- whatFour motorcycles were seized. (irishmirror.ie, irishtimes.com)
- whatApproximately €10,000 in cannabis was seized, subject to analysis. (irishmirror.ie)
- whatHeroin with an estimated value of €4,200 was seized. (irishmirror.ie)
- whatA tracking device was seized. (irishmirror.ie)
- whatPhones and other technology were seized as evidence. (irishmirror.ie)
- whatGangsters used a drone to launch a flying bomb attack against a rival on May 5. (irishmirror.ie)
- whatA pump-action shotgun was seized by gardaí. (irishtimes.com)
- whatDrugs worth about €14,000 were seized. (irishtimes.com)
- whatA tracking device and phones were seized. (irishtimes.com)
- whatEight searches at residences were conducted in the area. (irishtimes.com)
- whatA drone carrying an improvised explosive device crashed in Finglas the previous week. (irishtimes.com)
- whatAround €10,000 in cannabis and heroin with an estimated value of €4,200 were among the seizures. (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe device failed to detonate, and the Army bomb disposal team made it safe. (rte.ie)
- whereGardaí attended a domestic residence in Glenties Park, Finglas, Dublin 11, following reports of a suspicious device. (irishtimes.com)
- whereThe drone crashed at the home of an innocent family in Glenties Park, Finglas, at around 9pm on Sunday (irishmirror.ie)
- whereThe drone crashed at a home in Glenties Park, Finglas, around 9pm on Sunday. (dublinlive.ie)
- whereThe seizures took place in Finglas, north Dublin. (irishtimes.com)
- whereThe drone crashed into the home of an innocent family in Glenties Park, Finglas. (rte.ie)
- whenThe drone crashed into the garden of a house at around 11pm on Sunday night. (rte.ie)
- whenThe searches were carried out on Thursday (8 May 2025). (irishtimes.com)
- causeThe drone was being flown by one criminal faction to target another when the intended attack went wrong. (irishtimes.com)
- causeGardaí believe the attack is linked to a feud among rival criminals over control of the drugs trade. (rte.ie)
- causeThe IED was used as part of a simmering dispute between two rival crime gangs in Finglas (irishmirror.ie)
- causeMilitary experts believe the gang got the idea for the drone attack from watching footage of the war in Ukraine (irishmirror.ie)
- causeThe IED was used as part of a dispute between two rival crime gangs in Finglas. (dublinlive.ie)
- causeThe searches were part of the policing response to illegal drone activity in the Finglas area on Monday, May 5. (irishmirror.ie)
- causeGardaí believed the device was targeting a criminal's home. (rte.ie)
- causeThe attack is part of violent attacks between criminal gangs in Finglas over control of the drugs trade. (rte.ie)
- weaponGardaí say the pipe bomb was viable and could have caused major damage and serious injury. (rte.ie)
- weaponThe drone carried an improvised explosive device. (rte.ie)
- investigationDefence Forces bomb disposal experts were called in to make the device safe. (irishtimes.com)
- investigationThe Irish Defence Forces Explosive Ordnance Disposal team attended the scene and declared the device safe. (irishtimes.com)
- investigationThe device was removed for further analysis. (irishtimes.com)
- investigationThe drone has been recovered and the device was taken away for forensic examination. (rte.ie)
- investigationA number of searches were carried out over the weekend but no arrests have been made. (rte.ie)
- investigationDetectives are trying to identify those behind the attack and the source of the bomb and the bombmaker. (rte.ie)
- investigationThe EOD team carried out a controlled explosion on the device (irishmirror.ie)
- investigationThe drone that carried the IED was recovered largely intact for forensic and technical examination (irishmirror.ie, dublinlive.ie)
- investigationLocal detectives backed by the Emergency Response Unit carried out one search in Finglas on Monday (irishmirror.ie)
- investigationThe Defence Forces' EOD unit made the device safe after an alert lasting into the early hours of the morning. (dublinlive.ie)
- investigationA controlled explosion was carried out on the device and several houses were evacuated. (dublinlive.ie)
- investigationGardaí believe the drone attack and the petrol bomb were both carried out by the same gang. (dublinlive.ie)
- investigationLocal detectives backed by the Emergency Response Unit carried out one search in Finglas on Monday, but the target is not suspected of making the device. (dublinlive.ie)
- investigationA Garda spokesperson said investigations are ongoing. (irishmirror.ie)
- investigationThe searches were part of a response to illegal drone activity locally. (irishtimes.com)
- investigationThe operation was supported by the Garda Emergency Response Unit, the Garda Armed Support Unit and the Garda Dog Unit. (irishtimes.com)
- investigationGardaí said investigations were ongoing. (irishtimes.com)
- investigationGardaí believe a well-known criminal was involved in the bomb attack. (rte.ie)
- investigationGardaí carried out a series of raids in Finglas in response to the bomb attack. (rte.ie)
- investigationGardaí searched eight homes and seized weapons, drugs and devices. (rte.ie)
- investigationEarlier searches that week produced no arrests, and the investigation is ongoing. (rte.ie)
- otherGardaí regard the incident as a significant escalation in a local feud. (irishtimes.com)
- otherGardaí said the incident could have caused serious injury or loss of life. (irishtimes.com)
- otherThe target of the attack was a close associate of one of the two feuding gang leaders. (irishtimes.com)
- otherSeveral serious incidents, including shots being fired, took place in recent weeks as part of the feud. (irishtimes.com)
- otherThe main protagonists in the feud have been before the courts on serious charges including relating to firearms. (irishtimes.com)
- otherThe crash was at the home of an innocent family. (rte.ie)
- otherGardaí believe the drone was targeting a criminal's house in the area. (rte.ie)
- otherThe device failed to detonate because a component appears to have become dislodged when the drone crashed. (rte.ie)
- otherThe army bomb disposal team was called and several homes were evacuated until the device was made safe. (rte.ie)
- otherGardaí say it is the first time a criminal gang has used a drone to transport an explosive device to target a rival criminal's home. (rte.ie)
- otherGardaí do not believe there is a subversive involvement. (rte.ie)
- otherThe gang leader is a suspect for a murder bid on Glen Ward and Eric O'Driscoll in Finglas in June 2022 (irishmirror.ie, dublinlive.ie)
- otherThe gang leader is also a suspect for the attack on Browne's Steakhouse in Blanchardstown on Christmas Eve 2023 (irishmirror.ie)
- otherTristan Sherry was murdered moments after fatally wounding Jason Hennessy, 48, at Browne's Steakhouse (irishmirror.ie)
- otherGlen Ward was jailed for five and a half years for firing a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle from a Finglas home in January 2022 (irishmirror.ie)
- otherEric O'Driscoll was jailed for five years for the same firearms offence (irishmirror.ie)
- otherThe gang behind the attack is led by a criminal who was once a key ally of Glen 'Mr Flashy' Ward. (dublinlive.ie)
- otherThe gang leader is also a suspect for the Browne's Steakhouse attack in Blanchardstown on Christmas Eve 2023. (dublinlive.ie)
- otherGunman Tristan Sherry was murdered moments after fatally wounding Jason Hennessy, 48, in the Browne's Steakhouse attack. (dublinlive.ie)
- otherGlen Ward, 32, was jailed for five and a half years for firing a semi-automatic AR-15 from a Finglas home during a house party in January 2022. (dublinlive.ie)
- otherEric O'Driscoll was jailed for five years after pleading guilty to possessing the same AR-15 rifle. (dublinlive.ie)
- otherMilitary experts believe the gang got the idea for a drone attack by watching footage of the war in Ukraine. (dublinlive.ie)
- otherThe searches were supported by members from Blanchardstown, Cabra, the Garda Emergency Response Unit, the Garda Armed Support Unit and the Garda Dog Unit. (irishmirror.ie)
- otherThe eight searches followed a number of others conducted in recent days. (irishmirror.ie)
- otherThe incident is understood to be part of a feud between crime gangs. (irishtimes.com)
- otherGardaí believe the attack was the first time a drone was used to carry an explosive device. (rte.ie)
- otherA pump-action shotgun, 26 rounds of ammunition, four motorcycles, a tracking device, phones and other technology were recovered. (rte.ie)
- otherAround €10,000 worth of cannabis and €4,200 worth of heroin were seized. (rte.ie)
The reporting
newest first- 9 May2025Shotgun, drugs and motorcycles seized in Finglas
Reports the drone bomb attack in Glenties Park, Finglas, and the garda search operation that followed, which recovered a shotgun, ammunition, drugs, motorcycles and devices. No arrests had been made when the article was published.
suspect, 40s, male - 9 May2025Shotgun, ammunition and drugs seized by gardaí in raid following attempted drone bomb attack
First report of the drone bomb incident and the subsequent eight searches in Finglas; investigations ongoing with no arrests or charges yet.
- 8 May2025Gardaí seize shotgun, four motorcycles, cannabis, heroin and tracking device
Reports eight searches in Finglas on 8 May 2025 following a drone-launched flying bomb attack on 5 May 2025, with seizure of a shotgun, ammunition, motorcycles, drugs and a tracking device; investigations ongoing.
- 7 May2025Race to catch who built Ireland's first ever drone bomb after Finglas incident
Provides detailed account of the drone-borne IED, the EOD response, the linked petrol bomb and shotgun attack, and identifies the suspect gang as led by a former ally of Glen Ward who is also a suspect in the 2022 murder bid and the 2023 Browne's Steakhouse attack.
victimsuspect - 7 May2025Gardai in race to catch criminal who built Ireland’s first ever drone bomb
Provides details on the drone-borne IED including the crash location (Glenties Park), the Defence Forces EOD response, the linked petrol bomb and shotgun attack, the gang rivalry context, and the belief that the gang got the idea from Ukraine war footage.
suspect, malesuspect, male - 6 May2025Investigation into attempted bomb attack in Finglas
Adds that the drone crashed into the garden of a house at around 11pm on Sunday, that the army bomb disposal team evacuated several homes, that gardaí say the pipe bomb was viable and failed to detonate because a component became dislodged, that the device was believed to be targeting a criminal's house, that the attack is linked to a feud among rival criminal gangs in Finglas and Blanchardstown, and that it is the first time a criminal gang has used a drone to transport an explosive device.
victim - 5 May2025Drone carrying pipe bomb crashes in botched Dublin feud attack
Details the drone bomb crash, the feud context, the target's identity as a close associate of a gang leader, and the response by Gardaí and the Defence Forces EOD team.