Fermanagh bomb attack: Police chief urges politicians to 'take action' and 'not take peace for granted' after five attempts to murder officers this year

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Leaders in Northern Ireland need to "take action" to resolve the country's political crisis following five separate attempts to murder police officers, a leading policeman said today.

Deputy Chief Constable Stephen Martin said there had been five attempts on officers' lives in Northern Ireland this year, proving that terrorists were regaining ground amid a period of regression for peace in the country.

He said he believes now is the time "to question what type of society we want to live in" and called on politicians to lead by example.

He was speaking after a explosive was detonated in County Fermanagh in a "murderous" attack, in which police and army officers were lured to the scene by another hoax bomb. No one was injured.

Speaking at a press conference in Belfast, DCC Martin said: "We now need action. We need - as a society led by our politicians - to absolutely set out not just our condemnation to these these people but to work collectively together - police on their own is not sufficient.

"We need to say: 'You do not represent the type of society that we want to live in'. We want to reclaim the prosperity we felt a few years ago.

"Things are becoming more entrenched and progress that has been made is flipping back a little bit."

He added: "We've had two and a half years without a devolved government. The terrorists have spoken. We shouldn’t take our peace for granted."

Northern Ireland has been without a devolved government since January 2017.

Power sharing collapsed in a row between Sinn Féin and the DUP over a flawed green-energy scheme. Attempts to restore it have so far failed.

DCC Martin said he was of the "firm belief" that Monday's attack was carried out by dissident republican groups, naming both the Continuity IRA and the New IRA.

"I think one of those groups would be a very good starting point for the investigation," he said.

DCC Stephen Martin called Monday's bomb attack a 'reckless and indiscriminate' attempt to kill police officers

He condemned the attack as "a deliberate attempt to lure police and army bomb disposal colleagues into the area to murder them".

"This attack was indiscriminate and reckless and, whilst there is no doubt in my mind that police responding to this call were the target, the reality is that anyone could have been caught up in the explosion," he said.

"We are extremely fortunate that the actions of officers who were first on scene meant that there was not serious injury or death."

"The threat from Northern Ireland-related terrorism has not decreased and has remained at severe since 2009," he added.

A police road block close to the scene where an explosive device was detonated at Wattle Bridge, Co Fermanagh
PA

The bomb was uncovered during a security operation which was launched following reports that a device had been left there.

A hoax device was reportedly found on Sunday night, but during a follow-up searches of the area on Monday morning the explosive went off.

DCC Martin said whoever "made, transported and deployed this device should explain their actions to the people of Co Fermanagh and Northern Ireland".

"They bring nothing to society, they showed no regard when they entered a public road in a public space to create nothing other than inconvenience and disruption to the local community and attempted to murder public servants," he said.

"There are people within our community who know who did this. My message to them today is simple - please step forward and do the right thing and provide the information to police that will allow us to bring the perpetrators before the courts."

Mark Lindsay, chairman of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland, labelled the attack as the actions of "depraved and sick republican terrorists with nothing but misery to offer".

Dissident extremists continue to target members of the security forces in Northern Ireland.

Dissident extremists claimed the device in Co Armagh had been fired at a police patrol but missed its target back in July
Twitter / Thomas Larkham

Last month, a booby trap bomb was left on the Tullygally Road in Craigavon, Co Armagh, as police attended a call-out from a member of the public.

Commanders said the call was a set-up to lure officers into the area.

In June, a serving police officer escaped unscathed after finding a booby trap bomb attached to the underside of his vehicle in a golf club car park in east Belfast.

The incident on the Irish border has been widely condemned by DUP leader Arlene Foster, Fermanagh MP Michelle Gildernew, Secretary of State Julian Smith and Ireland's premier Leo Varadkar.

Ms Foster tweeted her condemnation of the latest incident, describing the explosion as a "clear attempt to kill", while the Secretary of State said he was "following developments closely".

Mr Varadkar deplored the "cowardly actions of those responsible", adding that the explosion could have had "devastating consequences".

He tweeted: "We should be in no doubt that this device was intended to inflict maximum harm."

Sinn Fein MP Ms Gildernew said: "This morning's bomb attack in Wattle Bridge was totally wrong.

"Thankfully no one was injured in this incident but we could have been dealing with a situation where people were seriously injured or worse.

"Those responsible for this incident have nothing to offer society and need to end these actions immediately.

"Anyone with information on this should bring it forward to the PSNI."

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