A suspected dissident republican bomb attack outside a police station near Belfast should be met with “strong condemnation” and “not political nonsense”, Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill has said.
The attack, believed to be the work of the New IRA, happened after a male delivery driver had his car hijacked in the Twinbrook area of west Belfast on Saturday.
A device was placed inside the vehicle and the man was ordered to drive to Dunmurry police station in Co Antrim. The car exploded outside as the building was being evacuated, with two babies among those who were being brought to safety at the time.
The incident is being treated by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) as attempted murder and comes just weeks after an attempted car bomb attack on Lurgan police station in Co Armagh.
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Speaking on Monday at a joint press conference at Parliament Buildings in Belfast with Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly and PSNI chief constable Jon Boutcher, O’Neill said they had gathered to send a clear message.
“We are absolutely united in condemnation of what has happened, nobody wants to see this on our streets, nobody wants to see the fear that that community experienced on Saturday evening,” the Sinn Féin politician said.
“I don’t think this is a day for political nonsense. I think this is a day for strong condemnation.
“This is a day for us to be united in saying these groups have no place in our society, and it’s a day for us all to say collectively that anybody with any information whatsoever should come forward to the PSNI, because these people need to be dealt with before the courts.”
Little-Pengelly said “terrorism is always wrong” and she believed it was “really important that we do stand very strongly together” following such an incident.
“There is a responsibility across all of the political parties, particularly at a leadership level, to be sending a very clear message, a condemnation of this terrorist attack on Saturday night, but indeed, a very clear condemnation right across the piece,” the DUP member said.
“Terrorism is always wrong. It is always without justification, should that have been 10, 20, 40, 50 years ago or on Saturday night.
“Let’s send that clear message, let’s send that clear leadership, particularly to our young people coming up, that this is absolutely not for the future. It is not our present. It is not wanted, and we need to stand together against that.”
Boutcher, who said an attack on the PSNI was an “attack on all of us”, appealed for information to help his officers catch those responsible “before these people actually harm or kill somebody”.
“It’s everybody’s responsibility to call out these reckless attacks, and that’s why we stand here today, shoulder to shoulder, in doing that,” he said.
“There is no place for these mindless thugs, these idiots who think it’s acceptable to carry out such stupid attacks.
“I can promise you, we will use all of our resources to identify them and bring them before the courts.” – PA
