Loyalist paramilitaries have been blamed for a pipe-bomb attack on the home of a newly elected SDLP councillor in Larne, Co Antrim. Mr Martin Wilson and his family escaped injury in the blast.
Mr Wilson, his 10-year-old son, mother, brother and sister were asleep when the device exploded outside their house in Sallagh Park Central at 2.15 a.m. yesterday.
Two men have been arrested in connection with the attack. Extensive damage was caused to the front door and flying shrapnel damaged a neighbour's car and windows. A second unexploded pipe-bomb was found at Mr Wilson's brother's home across the street.
The second device was defused by British army bomb experts. Mr Wilson said he lived in a religiously mixed area and his neighbours were shocked by the attack. He said he believed it was connected to his recent election to Larne Borough Council and because he had prevented men from erecting a UFF flag outside his home last year.
Sectarian tensions have been running high in Larne, a loyalist town, for the past 18 months. The home of another SDLP councillor, Mr Danny O'Connor, has been repeatedly attacked. "The people of Larne have spoken at the election and decided they wanted us to represent them but some people refuse to accept that," said Mr Wilson. "I do not believe this incident is supported by the wider unionist community."
Ulster Unionist MP for East Antrim Mr Roy Beggs said: "It is intolerable that a newly elected representative should be targeted in this way. It is an attack on the democratic process.
"It takes courage for any candidate to stand for election and present themselves to the electorate. It takes no courage to throw a pipe-bomb at a family home in the early hours of the morning."
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, said, "This attack, which could have caused very serious injuries or worse, was intended to intimidate Martin Wilson and his family and also the people of Larne whom he represents. It was a direct assault on democracy in Northern Ireland itself and is to be deplored."
Meanwhile, the RUC was yesterday examining a bomb which was discovered in the grounds of a GAA club after a match. The device was found in the Russell Gaelic Union grounds on the Old Course Road last night.
Elsewhere, an 18-year-old man is critically ill in Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital after he was beaten up in Banbridge, Co Down. He was attacked in the Brookfield Estate on Sunday evening after he had been drinking with friends. Police have ruled out a sectarian motive.