Northern Ireland

Loyalists believed to be responsible for Belfast to Dublin rail alert

Disruption was caused on Belfast to Dublin rail services after a security alert yesterday
Disruption was caused on Belfast to Dublin rail services after a security alert yesterday Disruption was caused on Belfast to Dublin rail services after a security alert yesterday

LOYALIST paramilitaries are believed to be responsible for a security alert which disrupted north-south train services yesterday.

Trains between Belfast and Dublin faced delays after information suggested a device may have been left and searches were carried out by both the PSNI and An Garda Síochána.

The PSNI last night said "the public safety operation has now ended as nothing untoward was found".

The alert came on the same day loyalists warned in The Irish News that their violent campaign against the Northern Ireland Protocol is set to escalate.

It also comes after Irish government minister Simon Coveney was targeted in a hoax bomb alert last week while attending a peace building event in north Belfast.

The incident has been linked to opposition to the protocol, which creates a border down the Irish Sea.

It is understood loyalists are behind yesterday's alert.

Iarnród Éireann notified passengers on Twitter yesterday that "due to a security alert" those travelling on Enterprise and "northern commuter services will experience delays".

A spokesman for the PSNI later said that officers from the force and An Garda Síochána "conducted precautionary security checks on trains travelling between Belfast and Dublin following information suggesting that a device of some description may have been left on one of the trains."

Meanwhile, a 40-year-old man has been charged with preparation of terrorist acts, hijacking and placing an article causing a bomb hoax in relation to last Friday's bomb alert at the Houben Centre.

He is due to appear before Belfast Magistrates Court today.

A 48-year-old woman arrested in connection with the investigation was released.

A 38-year-old woman was arrested on Saturday on suspicion of offences including possession of a firearm in suspicious circumstances, and has also been released pending further enquiries.