Republicans blamed for huge NI bomb
Tuesday, 23 February 2010 10:13 AM
By politics.co.uk staff
Dissident republicans have been blamed for the massive car bomb which exploded outside a Newry courthouse on Monday night.
Police in Northern Ireland said it was a "miracle" no one was killed in the blast. It follows an unsuccessful mortar bomb attack on a police station in the nearby village of Keady.
Monday evening's bomb detonated around 22:00 GMT after officers cleared the area, having been alerted to a suspect vehicle outside the courthouse, according to reports.
"This is an act of senseless violence by a small handful of people who refuse to accept the people's overwhelming support for the peace process," Northern Ireland secretary Shaun Woodward said.
"The best message that could be sent to them is a powerful rejection of violence through the completion of devolution."
Bomb disposal experts are searching for other devices in the area around the courthouse, which remained cordoned off this morning.
Conor Murphy, the local Sinn Fein MP, claimed he had heard the blast more than four miles away.
"The people responsible have absolutely nothing to offer the community except the prospect of a return to the past," he said.
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