THE planting of a pipe bomb at a "family" event in Co Antrim has been condemned as "sheer lunacy".
More than 500 spectatators enjoying stock car racing at Ballymena Showgrounds had to be evacuated and the event cancelled, after the device was discovered in a carpark at around 7.45pm on Friday.
The explosive was described as "viable" and made safe by the British army bomb squad.
Assembly member robin Swann condemned those who planted the device. "Leaving a pipe bomb at a family event in Ballymena was an act of sheer lunacy," the uuP representative said. "Northern Ireland suffered terribly during the Troubles and we cannot as a community go back to this situation where family events are targeted by the bombers."