Man arrested over MI5 HQ bombing in Northern Ireland

Published on 08/05/2010 20:09

A MAN was arrested yesterday by detectives investigating a dissident republican car bomb attack on MI5's Northern Ireland headquarters.

The 34-year-old was detained in the Dunmurry area of west Belfast.

On 12 April the so-called Real IRA forced a taxi driver to ferry the bomb to Palace Barracks in Holywood, Co Down, a military base which includes the MI5 facility.

An elderly man suffered minor injuries when the device exploded while the area around the barracks was being evacuated.

Some 30 to 40 residents who were fleeing the scene at the time described diving for cover to avoid shrapnel from the blast.

The bombing was timed to coincide with the devolution of policing and justice powers from Westminster to the Northern Ireland Assembly.

The transfer of the powers handed political responsibility for law and order to Stormont politicians, though national security responsibilities remain under the control of central government.

The high-security MI5 facility is the most potent symbol of the security service's continuing role in Northern Ireland.

The blast followed a series of attacks by dissidents in Northern Ireland.

In January, Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officer Peadar Heffron was seriously injured in a car bomb attack in Co Antrim.

This was followed by another car bomb which damaged a court building in Newry, Co Down, in February.