THIS is a picture of the elaborate hoax device which forced the evacuation of a west Belfast primary school on Tuesday.
On the first morning back after the summer holidays pupils and staff at St Paul's Primary School had to be evacuated along with nearby residents after a 'suspect package' was discovered by refuse collectors in an alleyway off Beechmount Crescent after 9am.
The area was cordoned off until 1pm when the PSNI later confirmed the suspicious package was a hoax.
Details regarding the package had been unclear, but Sinn Féin councillor Ciaran Beattie has posted a picture of what appears to be the device, which resembles a pipe bomb.
"Here's the reality, council workers cleaning the alleyway this morning came across a pipe that had nuts at both ends, heavily taped at the ends with wires protruding," he said.
"They informed residents who after seeing it, all concluded it looked like a bomb.That's when police were called and the disruption to our community, our schools and our children began," he added.
The security alert was widely condemned in west Belfast, with residents labelling it "disgraceful" and school principal Sean McNamee calling it a "very bad day for the local community".
