Letter bomb is condemned

Shortly after 9am a suspect package, addressed to Maghaberry Prison, was discovered at the Linenhall Street office and army technical officers later confirmed the letter was a ‘viable device’.

In a joint statement, the First and Deputy First Ministers said: “The people behind these letter bombs are opposed to the democratic will of the people and want to drag us back to the past. They have no respect for the postal workers, the wider community or the future.”

Lagan Valley DUP MLA Jonathan Craig, who is also on the Northern Ireland Policing Board, condemned the “cowardly attack”. Mr Craig said: “Despite the disruption and chaos they brought to Lisburn last Friday and the postal system they failed in their objectives and we must leave it the hands of the police and forensic experts to trace these people down build up an evidence case against them and have them arrested and convicted.”

Alliance MLA Trevor Lunn added: “There is no place for this in our society. The overwhelming majority of the population are opposed to the actions of those responsible for these devices. I would like to commend the postal staff who alerted the authorities about this suspect item and the Police and Army officers who put their lives at risk to deal with it.