Police have criticised a warning about a bomb blast in Derry as “inadequate”, accusing the perpetrators of endangering the public.
An explosive that was left in the Crawford Square area of the city went off at about 10.35pm on Monday, before police had time to evacuate the area. A number of residents were moved out of their homes shortly after the blast, which damaged offices belonging to the probation service.
The square was closed to traffic on Tuesday as army bomb disposal experts investigated the explosion and the possibility that a second device was left in the area.
While no one was injured in the blast, the Police Service of Northern Ireland accused dissident republicans operating in the city of being reckless with people’s lives. Supt Mark McEwan said: “A warning was given that was totally inadequate in terms of allowing the police to actually take any positive action and the device activated before police were able to start the evacuation.
“We have to condemn outright the very fact that somebody has put a bomb in a highly residential area here and that has been placed here in order to intimidate, cause damage and potentially cause serious injury or death.”
Northern Ireland’s justice minister, David Ford, described the incident as an attack on the community. He said: “It put the lives of local people at risk and forced them to leave their homes. Reports of a second device clearly show the intent to cause injury.
“Damage was also caused to local businesses, including the probation service, who provide an invaluable service protecting the community through managing offenders and helping them reintegrate into the community.”
Sinn Féin and the SDLP also condemned those behind the explosion. Colum Eastwood, an SDLP councillor in the city, said the bomb went off before police arrived on the scene.
Sinn Féin Stormont assembly member Raymond McCartney said: “Thankfully no one was injured as a result of this reckless attack in a built-up residential area. This has brought nothing but disruption to the lives of local people and to the city generally with the closure of Northland Road, one of the main arterial routes in the city.”
Derry is a stronghold of the new IRA, a terror group formed from a merger of the Real IRA, some ex-IRA activists from Republican Action Against Drugs and members of independent republican organisations in areas such as East Tyrone.
