Cookstown bomb 'partially exploded'

A booby-trap bomb has been discovered under the car of a civilian security worker in Cookstown, County Tyrone. It is believed the device partially exploded as the man drove away from his home in the Sweep Road area of the town. He was not injured in the attack. The man is a former police officer who currently works as a guard at the town's PSNI station. PSNI Chief Supt Skuce said those who planted the bomb had "scant regard" for human life. ...

Police say a bomb that exploded on a country road in south Armagh was designed to kill or injure officers. A device exploded at about 1730 BST on Saturday between Belleek and Cullyhanna, blowing a crater in the road and damaging a stone bridge. No-one was hurt in the incident, which politicians are blaming on dissident republicans. Chief Superintendent Alisdair Robinson said police were treating the blast "extremely seriously". They have launched a major investigation and are appealing for anyone with information to come forward. 'Callous disregard' ...

Police believe a fire in Keady, County Armagh, at the weekend was an attempt to lure officers into the area and is linked to an ongoing bomb alert. A number of families have been moved from their homes after a suspect object was found on the town's Castleblayney Road on Tuesday. Just after midnight on Sunday a section of fencing in the area was set alight before being put out by firefighters. Police have appealed for information about both incidents. Six houses have been evacuated after a beer keg which had wires attached to it was found by a member of the ...

Hundreds of people have been forced to leave their homes in an overnight bomb alert at a police station in County Tyrone. Army bomb experts are examining a white van which was abandoned outside Aughnacloy PSNI station at Dungannon Road on Thursday at 2210 BST. Police said about 350 people were asked to leave their homes and spent the night in three halls. Some roads around the village remain cordoned off in the security operation. The main street in Aughnacloy is now partially open and the A5 is accessible, however the main Aughnacloy to Dungannon road is closed. ...

The Bloody Sunday killings were unjustified and unjustifiable, the Prime Minster has said. Thirteen marchers were shot dead on 30 January 1972 in Londonderry when British paratroopers opened fire on crowds at a civil rights demonstration. Fourteen others were wounded, one later died. The Saville Report is heavily critical of the Army and found that soldiers fired the first shot. Prime Minister David Cameron said he was "deeply sorry". He said that the findings of the Saville Report were "shocking". A huge cheer erupted in Guildhall Square in Derry as Mr Cameron delivered the findings which unequivocally blamed the Army for one of the most controversial days in Northern Ireland's history. ...

A report claiming the Bloody Sunday Inquiry will conclude some of the fatal shootings were unlawful is "speculation", the government has said.
Thirteen people were shot dead by paratroops in Londonderry on 30 January 1972. A 14th person died later. The Guardian says Lord Saville's report - which has taken 12 years to compile and is due to be published on Tuesday - will say some were unlawfully killed. The government said such speculation added to the stress of those involved. A spokesperson for the Northern Ireland Office said: "The report will be published in a few days and everyone can read it then. ...

Groups representing police officers in England said they are concerned that their officers could be deployed in Northern Ireland if trouble flares up during the summer.
Police officers from Yorkshire, Northumbria and Strathclyde will take part in training programmes in NI over the next few months.
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A dissident republican group says a device found at a leisure centre in Londonderry on Monday had been left by the organisation five days ago. Police said they searched Templemore sports complex last Thursday - when the centre was used for an election count - after a coded warning about a bomb. But they said the original information was misleading. They said the device, hidden in the ceiling of toilets, did not contain a detonator and could not have exploded. ...

Two people have been injured in a car bomb explosion outside a police station in Newtownhamilton, County Armagh. The explosion happened at about 2325 BST. Police were told in a call to a Belfast hospital about an hour earlier that a vehicle had been abandoned. Officers were en route to the station, which is staffed on a part-time basis, when the explosion happened. The two people's injuries are not life-threatening. Shots are reported to have been fired before the explosion. The two people who were treated in hospital - a man and an elderly woman - are said to have been left "extremely shaken". ...

Police in Londonderry are investigating reports of an explosion outside a house at Dunmore Gardens in the Creggan area. A PSNI spokesperson said the blast was reported shortly before midnight on Tuesday. The area has been cordoned off while a forensic examination of the scene is carried out. There are no reports of anyone being injured. Police would like anyone who was in the area around midnight to contact them. One local resident said she was "disgusted" at the attack. "I'm rearing a wee child, and my granny is an elderly lady a...

A car bomb has exploded near an Army base in Holywood, County Down, forcing the evacuation of several homes. The blast seems to have been timed to coincide with the precise moment that policing and justice powers devolved from Westminster to Stormont. It happened at about 0020 BST outside Palace Barracks, where MI5 has its NI headquarters. A warning was given. The Real IRA has admitted the attack. An elderly man was treated in hospital for minor injuries. The bomb was placed in a taxi, which was hijacked in the Ligoniel area of north Belfast, about seven miles from Holywood, at about 2150 BST. ...

Real IRA causes alerts in Londonderry Security alerts are continuing in Londonderry after the Real IRA said they left four devices in the city. A hijacked van has been left outside Strand Road Police Station and the roads between Lawrence Hill and Asylum Road are cordoned off. An area around Bishop Street Courthouse is also closed after another hijacked vehicle was abandoned at Bishop's Gate. At least three controlled explosions have been carried out. People have been evacuated from both areas. Madam's Bank Road was closed for a time, but has now reopened. The Craigavon Bridge has also been reopened. The police said they searched the areas, but nothing untoward was found. ...

And as a contrast to the earlier posted 1973 article...

More people identify themselves as Irish than British in Northern Ireland according to a new poll in Monday's Belfast Telegraph.

Over 1,000 people were interviewed for the survey.
A total of 42% of those surveyed told the pollsters they were Irish while 39% identified themselves as British. 18% saw themselves as Northern Irish.
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Police say it is a "miracle" no-one was killed or injured in a car bomb explosion at Newry courthouse. Officers were evacuating the area when the bomb went off at about 2200 GMT on Monday. The explosion damaged the gates of the courthouse. Dissident republicans opposed to the peace process are being blamed for the attack. There is severe traffic disruption in Newry as the area remains cordoned off and a security operation continues. Police Chief Inspector Sam Cordnor said: "It is only by sheer miracle that nobody was killed or injured." The attack comes days after a mortar bomb was abandoned near a police station in the village of Keady, about 20 miles away. ...

Two men have been arrested in connection with the murder of a police officer in Craigavon, County Armagh.

Constable Stephen Carroll was shot dead by dissident republicans when he went to answer a distress call on 9 March last year.
The men, who are in their 20s and 30s, are being questioned at Antrim police station.
A teenager and a 38-year-old man have previously been remanded in custody charged with the murder.
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