Bomb damaged office re-opens

Staff transferred to the rear of the building to continue working despite evidence of the explosion all around.

Doors and walls were pebble dashed with minute fragments of glass and shrapnel.

The device was planted in the showroom behind an advertising display and the intensity of the blast shook houses in the vicinity.

A large crater was left and the ceiling had collapsed leaving the shop a shell and in need of urgent structural work.

Electricity board officials would only say they estimated the cost of the damage to be in the thousands.

About 3,000 of electrical appliances, including washing machines, refrigerators, heaters and vacuum cleaners were completely destroyed.

A kettle close to the source of the blast was left flattened like a tin plate.

Mr Bob Peel, a resident on Windsor Avenue, was the first on the scene. He described it as a scene of 'utter devastation'.

"Glass and rubble littered the street from side to side, the road surface glistened in the lights. It was covered in glass," he said.

The attack was described as a 'disgrace' and a slur on the good people of the town.

According to Councillor Jim Dowling the building served the best interests of the people of Lurgan in the 'most impartial way' and the attack was a 'senseless action'.

He said: "More and more we need steady work and wages to make a more worthwhile living and to give us all a decent chance in life."