A suspected New IRA car bomb that exploded outside a Londonderry court on Saturday drew widespread condemnation and fears it could be a prelude to renewed violence in Northern Ireland after Brexit.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) says at least two gunmen hijacked a pizza delivery car and planted a bomb in it, which was then driven to the scene before being detonated.
The Belfast Telegraph reports that “a bomb warning phone call was made to West Midlands Samaritans, who then notified West Midlands Police, who in turn passed the information on to the PSNI.”
The PSNI managed to evacuate the surroundings 30 minutes after leaving the car outside the courthouse. No one is believed to have been injured in the attack.
Deputy Police Chief Mark Hamilton confirmed that two men in their 20s had been arrested in connection with the bombing. He told reporters: “For this investigation, our main line of inquiry is against the ‘New IRA.’ The New IRA, like most splinter republican groups in Northern Ireland, is small, largely unrepresentative and simply determined to get people back where they don’t want to be.”
The New IRA was formed in 2012 after several splinter republican groups claimed they were coming together under one leadership.
The attack was condemned by politicians from across the political spectrum. Gary Middleton, a former deputy mayor of Londonderry for the Democratic Unionist Party, described the incident as a “shameful act of terrorism” and “a setback”.
Sinn Fein, the former political wing of the Irish Nationalist Republican Army, also condemned the attack, with Elisha McCallion MP saying it “shocked the local community”.
Nic Robertson, CNN International Diplomatic Editor tweeted The explosion reached a “level of violence not seen here in years.”
CNN reports that “the bombing raised fears that sectarian violence could resurface in Northern Ireland, divided over whether to remain part of the UK or become part of Ireland.”
The Good Friday Agreement signed in 1998 ended nearly 30 years of conflict between loyal Protestants and Catholic Republicans, in which more than 3,500 people died.
Since then, the country has made great strides towards reconciliation, but fears are growing that the return of a physical north-south border after Brexit could spark new violence. Police in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have warned that a return to a hard border, with customs and other checks, could be a target for militant groups.
Reuters reports that the New IRA, one of the few militant groups opposed to the Good Friday peace deal, has carried out “sporadic attacks in recent years.” The last was in 2016, when a prison officer was killed after a bomb went off under his van in Belfast.
Last July, tensions flared again when police and firefighters were attacked with Molotov cocktails and rockets over several nights by Catholic youths in the Bogside area of Londonderry.
2023-08-25 19:55:14
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