Political leaders unite to condemn ‘cowardly’ attack on PSNI station

By Claudia Savage (Press Association)

Northern Ireland’s political leaders have united in condemning an attack on a police station which saw an explosive device detonate in a car.

Police said a vehicle was hijacked on Saturday night in west Belfast and a gas cylinder device was placed in the boot.

A male delivery driver was ordered to drive the car to Dunmurry police station in the Kingsway area and abandon it outside, which caused police to activate the station’s attack alarm.

No-one was harmed in the explosion despite the evacuation of residents, including two babies, being under way at the time.

On Sunday morning, forensic officers examined the burnt-out vehicle that had been moved to a side street beside the PSNI station.

First Minister Michelle O’Neill said those behind the attack “speak for absolutely no-one”.

She posted on social media: “They have no vision, no support, and have nothing to offer our society

“Our communities deserve peace. No-one is going to deny our young people and future generations that.

“We will keep progressing and we will keep moving forward to a better future.”

Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said “all right-thinking people will reject this sort of behaviour and see it as a cowardly attempt to try and drag us all backwards.

“We would like to commend the police officers for their swift response to this incident, their courage in the face of danger ensured local residents were protected.

“We would appeal to anyone with information to contact the PSNI.”

Sinn Fein MP for west Belfast Paul Maskey told reporters outside Dunmurry station that residents had to be “put out of their homes” as a result of the attack.

“Young families whilst they were being moved out of their homes last night, the explosion occurred,” he said.

“Elderly people who couldn’t leave their homes were left petrified and terrified.

“I have no idea about the motivation last night, and I think those who carried this attack out should come forward with their ideas, because it’s quite clear that their ideas mean absolutely nothing to this community.

“People don’t support them, people don’t want them, and people don’t want those people who are involved in this type of activity to be carrying out attacks such as this.

“So people are saying quite clearly, get off the scene, leave the scene, leave people alone.”

Speaking to the media on Sunday afternoon, DUP leader Gavin Robinson said the incident is “a grim reminder that there’s still some within our society who want to drag us back, who want to destroy Northern Ireland, and who don’t believe in the rule of law.”

“It is clear that there are some in our society who just have not got the message. They are Neanderthals,” he said.

“They believe that by disrupting lives or targeting the police, they’re going to achieve some political outcome.

“They will not, because society’s not with them, their own community is not with, we’re not with and we’re not with their actions either.

“To bring mayhem to the streets of Dunmurry or Lurgan four weeks ago, will achieve nothing politically, but it will strengthen the resolve of all of those of us who believe in peace and democracy and in the rule of law to face them down.”

Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said the attack “was a cowardly attempt to cause injury and destruction”.

He added: “By targeting a police station in the heart of a residential area, those responsible have shown a total disregard for the lives of local people and for the men and women who work to keep our communities safe.

“We are resolute in our commitment to peace, and these actions will only strengthen our collective determination.”

Justice Minister and Alliance Party leader Naomi Long said the incident was “simply unconscionable” just weeks “after the widespread condemnation of the attack in Lurgan”.

She added: “Despite the fact that acts of violence such as this have been roundly rejected, lives have once again been put at risk by the actions of a very small minority who offer nothing but devastation and destruction.

“Indeed, it is extremely fortunate that no-one was hurt or even killed as a result of this despicable attack.

“Those behind this attack have demonstrated a total disregard for every single person living in the area.

“My thoughts are with the motorist who has no doubt been left utterly traumatised by their ordeal, as well as the officers who were targeted in this cowardly attack.

“I would like also to pay tribute to those very same officers who, despite the threat they face, continue to turn up to work every day to serve the community.”

UUP leader and former police officer Jon Burrows said the explosion was a “display of cowardly criminality, almost certainly committed by dissident republicans”.

He added: “The PSNI are often the target of these dissident groups, but these groups don’t care who else gets hurt or traumatised.

“They are desperate, depraved and morally bankrupt gangsters seeking to drag Northern Ireland back to darker days. They will fail, just as their predecessors did.”

SDLP MLA and leader of the Stormont Opposition Matthew O’Toole posted on X: “The explosion at Dunmurry is hugely distressing for residents and worrying for police officers who were targeted.

“For the rest of us it is a reminder there are people, however few, who still want to use violence to drag us to a dark place.

“They will fail.”

A car bomb exploded outside a Belfast police station