A Belfast GAA club were forced to halt training on Wednesday night after police received an anonymous call claiming explosive devices had been left at the playing fields.
Club members of East Belfast GAA had been training on Wednesday evening at Henry Jones' Playing Fields in the Castlereagh Hills when police received the call about devices being left at the playing fields on Church Road.
A cordon was placed around the site and remains in place today as officers carry out a full search of the site, reports Belfast Live.
In a statement on Twitter, East Belfast GAA said: "The club wishes to advise members of an incident that occurred during training last night. It is the club’s understanding that, during the course of training, the police received a call that a package had been left somewhere in the vicinity of the playing fields upon which our members were training.
"On the advice of the PSNI, once a live situation was identified, the police and the club worked quickly to make people safe and help them disperse from the area calmly and efficiently. The club expresses its thanks to both the PSNI and to our playing members, who behaved impeccably during the situation.
"The creation and maintenance of a safe environment for sport to be played by all and the safety of our members whilst playing remains a priority for us all. The club intends to continue to work with the police, the community in East Belfast, and the public at large, whose support we have enjoyed on a daily basis, to ensure the continued safety and enjoyment of our members and patrons.
"Our door remains open, to all. The matter has now been passed to the PSNI. The club does not intend to make further comment at this time."
The club, one of the world's newest GAA clubs, formed earlier this year. The playing fields are owned by Belfast City Council and used by a number of different organisations.
Alliance councillor Eric Hanvey said: "The people behind this alert are an absolute disgrace and do not represent East Belfast.
"East Belfast GAA has received plaudits from right across the community, and rightly so, in their attempt to help build a better future in East Belfast by bringing people together via sport, so they can live, work and play together in peace.
"Those behind security alerts such as these are clearly not interested in something so positive but rather only division and destruction. They are unwanted in East Belfast or anywhere else, and I urge anyone with information on them to contact police with it immediately."
A PSNI spokesman said: "Police received an anonymous call on the evening of Wednesday 5th August, stating that a number of explosive devices had been left at playing fields at Church Road in Castlereagh.
"Officers attended and closed the site and are maintaining a cordon at the scene until a full search of the site can be carried out. There are no further details at present."
