Car bomb explodes outside N.Ireland court: police

[cory777]

Source: AFP

by Eamonn Mallie Eamonn Mallie – 23 mins ago

BELFAST (AFP) – A massive car bomb exploded outside a Northern Ireland court, police said, in an attack that one lawmaker blamed on dissident republicans.

There were no reports of casualties after the explosion on Monday at around 10:30 pm (2230 GMT), shortly after officers were alerted to a suspect vehicle outside the building in the city of Newry.

But the huge blast was heard two miles (three kilometres) away and is believed to have caused considerable damage. "Lives could have been lost," said one lawmaker.

The car was backed into the doors of the heavily fortified court before it exploded in the city around 35 miles south of the British province's capital Belfast.

Television pictures showed the wreck of the vehicle engulfed in flames and media reports said the court's gates were badly damaged.

"The police were still clearing the area at 10:30 pm when the bomb went off," a police spokesman said.

"There are no initial reports of injuries at this stage."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100223/ts_afp/britainnirelandunrest

[The abyss]

1. At one time

There were a large number of posters from Ireland and the UK that posted on this board. I hope they are still around.

I would like to hear from them.


May the name Bernadette Devlin be written large on the hall of memory.

[theHandpuppet]

2. Another article from the Belfast Telegraph

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/car-bomb-rocks-court-house-in-northern-ireland-14693988.html

[Rhiannon12866]

3. Not again.

;(

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Still thought to be dissident Republicans; reactions from politicians

...
DUP MLA LORD MORROW

Lord Morrow said that everyone had to support the police as they tried to "dig out" those who carried out the attack.

"We as an assembly in totality owe our support to the security forces," he said.

"It is one thing to condemn things, another to give unqualified support to the security forces in their taking whatever measures necessary to prevent such atrocities," he said.

SINN FEIN MLA MICKEY BRADY

Mr Brady said those who carried out the attack had "no place in our society".

"There are no ifs and buts, these people have no mandate the people of Newry have continually turned them down," he said.
...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8530279.stm

But the latest surge in dissident activity appears to be aimed at showing that diverse republican groups can co-ordinate their offensive across the whole of Northern Ireland. Three days ago, the village of Keady in County Armagh witnessed a failed mortar bomb attack on a police station.

Last month, a booby-trap bomb exploded under the driver's side of a car in County Antrim, inflicting severe injuries on a Catholic police officer. Shots have also been fired at police stations in the county.
...
With little popular backing (apart from in a few places such as the town of Lurgan) and several of their more high-profile leaders, such as Colin Duffy, already in custody, dissident republicans have had little influence on the province's politics.

If anything, violence, conducted by the Real IRA, Continuity IRA and, more recently, a breakaway group Óglaigh na hÉireann (the Irish name for the IRA), has been counter-productive, uniting Sinn Féin, nationalist and unionist politicians in joint condemnation of murder.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/feb/23/newry-bombers-mount-sustained-campaign