A baby was taken to hospital last night after the second petrol bomb attack on homes in a Cork housing estate in two nights.

Gardaí are now examining possible connections between the two incidents in Mayfield, on the city’s northside.

In the latest incident, the alarm was raised at around 10.20pm last night when a suspected petrol bomb device was thrown at the front of a house in Liffey Park.

There were a number of adults and children in the house at the time.

The device ignited on the path outside the property, and a small fire resulted. There was no fire damage caused to the house.

The occupants of the house grabbed a fire extinguisher and in their efforts to tackle the flames, they discharged some of the extinguisher contents inside the house.

Members of the Cork City Fire Brigade rushed to the scene and gardaí were also alerted.

A baby who was in the house at the time suffered some minor breathing irritation, believed to have been caused by the fire extinguisher contents, and was taken to hospital as a precaution.

There was another petrol bomb attack on a house on the same housing estate on Wednesday night.

Again, no significant property damage was caused.

Gardaí are now trying to establish if there is a connection between the two attacks.

Both scenes have been the subject of a forensic and technical examination by Garda forensic experts in an effort to gather evidence.

They are treating both incidents seriously and have appealed to anyone who saw anyone acting suspiciously in the Liffey Park area of Mayfield at any stage on Wednesday or Thursday night to contact them.