Newcastle bomb hoax condemned

Newcastle bomb hoax condemned

4 September 2013

A HOAX security alert near Newcastle’s Orange Hall must not be allowed to derail cross-community relations in Newcastle.

That is the view of the Orange Order and local politicians, who condemned the actions of those who placed a suspicious object at the hall last Wednesday evening.

Army technical officers carried out a controlled explosion on the suspicious object, which was found close to the junction of the Shimna Road and Bryansford Road. The security alert was later called a hoax.

The alert caused significant disruption in the town on Wednesday evening.

A number of elderly people had to be evacuated from their homes and motorists travelling from the Kilkeel direction were unable to travel through the town.

The Newcastle incident occurred 24 hours after a separate paint bomb attack on Clifton Street Orange Hall in Belfast.

An Orange Order spokesman said it was “deeply concerning” that an Orange hall located in a residential area should be a target for such sinister action.

“This despicable act is an insidious form of sectarianism and a blatant attack on Protestant culture, which caused major disruption to local residents, businesses and tourism in the town,” he said. “The building is in close proximity to a nursing home and band practice scheduled to take place in the hall was also cancelled.

“Despite such recklessness, the absurd actions of a minority should not deflect from the long established cross-community relations in Newcastle. We trust all public representatives will unite in their condemnation of this attack.

“We would like to put on record our appreciation to the diligence and bravery of the security services and appeal to any witnesses to assist the police with their inquiries.”

South Down MP Margaret Ritchie said the targeting of the hall was unacceptable and appealed for anyone with information to contact police.

“Orangemen are entitled to enjoy their premises as anyone else should be and unjustifiable threats of this nature are totally wrong,” she said.

“The people of South Down do not want to see this kind of threat to the safety of this community who long ago rejected the forces of terrorism when they endorsed the Good Friday Agreement.”

Sinn Féin MLA Chris Hazzard said he totally condemned the incident.

“There has been so much work put into making Newcastle a premier tourist destination and incidents like this do nothing to improve the image of the town,” he said.

“The irresponsible actions of these individuals forced a number of residents, many of them elderly, to be evacuated from their homes and this is simply unacceptable.

“I want to call on those responsible to explain their actions and what exactly they hoped to achieve from this. I would also ask anyone with any information regarding the incident to bring it forward to the police as soon as possible.”

UKIP Representative Alan Lewis said: “Those responsible need to seriously consider their actions before they escalate tensions, which in the past have led to tit for tat reprisals. An eye for an eye leaves both sides blind.

“Down District does not need this type of reckless activity and I encourage anyone who noticed anything suspicious to pass their concerns on to the police.”