Fountain bomb alert

Londonderry experienced severe disruption last Friday as a series of Real IRA bomb scares effectively annexed the city. Alerts at Strand Road PSNI Station, Craigavon Bridge and Madam's Bank saw traffic chaos last most of the day until their eventual clearance.

But, it was the planting of a suspect device inside a van yards from the security gate which links the Fountain to Bishop Street that has caused consternation amongst residents of the estate.

Fountain resident William Jackson, who lives just yards from the security gate told the Sentinel he was made aware of the alert by the PSNI at around 7.45am.

"The police asked if anyone had a copy of the key for the gate. These had been taken off residents on a previous occasion when a private security firm took over responsibility for locking the gate."

The Sentinel understands that the PSNI's copies of the keys were unavailable because they were inside Strand Road PSNI Station which itself was not accessible at the time because it was also the subject of a bomb alert.

Mr Jackson said: "I had to lend the PSNI a padlock of my own to secure the gate. The police had evacuated the whole of Bishop Street within the Walls and Alexander House but we were told that we didn't need to be evacuated because the thickness of the City's Walls would shield us from any blast.

"There was an impression that some police would stay inside the estate and stop people watching the controlled explosion. But, they didn't. I find this a wee bit appalling."

The lifelong Fountain resident also expressed concern for the area in the event of future instances similar to last weekend's. In the wake of a recent letter sent by dissident republicans to businesses and other organisations warning against co-operation with the PSNI, he said: "Some people working at the court park their cars in the Fountain. Does this mean the Fountain will become a target too?

"Also the CCTV monitors the area 54 hours a day. So, how come they couldn't catch these boys leaving a van there at all hours of the morning?"

MP for the city, Mark Durkan's constituency offices in Bishop Street had to close during the alert.

He was contacted by Cathedral Youth Club leader, Graham Warke as the bomb scare was going on.

Speaking to the Sentinel, Mr Durkan said: "I was contacted by Graham Warke at The Diamond as the alert was ongoing. I immediately raised this issue with officers attending in Bishop Street.

"The community appreciates the police had to deal with a difficult situation with alerts in various parts of the city.

"However, it was clearly unacceptable that pedestrian access was not blocked off from the Fountain to Bishop Street Gate.

"Equally, there were understandable concerns that evacuation of dwellings was handled differently.

"These are issues that deserve the attention of senior police officers in the city."

Another Fountain resident, who wished to remain anonymous, registered her disgust at the handling of the bomb scare.

"I live right up beside Bishop Gate. I took my two-year-old to playgroup early in the morning but it wasn't until I went to pick her up again at around 12 that I learned there actually was a bomb scare.

"This is not the first time there has been a bomb scare and we didn't know about it. It makes me feel even more alienated than we already are.

" All we seem to get from the PSNI are excuses."

A spokeswoman for the PSNI told the Sentinel: "Police were dealing with a number of security alerts in the city on Friday ands took all reasonable steps to ensure the safety of the public. Cordons were put in place and evacuations took place.

"The pedestrian gate into the Fountain was locked. A controlled explosion was carried out and it was confirmed to be a hoax. Police made a concerted effort to ensure that disruption was kept to a minimum throughout the day.

"It is also incumbent on members of the public to ensure they do not put themselves in danger.

"We can confirm a member of the public was able to facilitate the locking of the pedestrian gate at the time."