Police warning after security alert

Police said that the man, wearing a green jacket and holding a shotgun, was standing on a bridge near the scene of an IRA bomb attack on the railway line at Bell’s Row the previous day.

A spokesman said the man was fortunate not to have been shot by the security forces.

With a security clearance operation underway, police were on the alert for possible terrorist attacks.

“The man was spotted on a bridge near the scene of the police operation and was reported to a police patrol as a gunman. There was every reason to suppose that he was a terrorist,” said the spokesman.

The man was challenged and immediately put his hands in the air. Only then did it become clear that the man was not a terrorist but a shooting enthusiast.

“This man was not in a very safe place, especially when a security operation was in progress. It turned out that he was a bona fide sportsman, but the security forces did not know that.”

The bomb attack on the line at Bell’s Row happened at around 10.10am the previous day when a small area of track was damaged.

A security clearance followed immediately and three people were detained for questioning by the police.

The attack was one of many IRA attempts to disrupt the Belfast to Dublin railway line.