A THREAT by loyalists to escalate violence linked to the Northern Ireland Protocol has been condemned.
Loyalists warned that an attack on Dublin cannot be ruled out.
It came days after Irish government minister Simon Coveney was targeted in a hoax bomb alert while attending a peace-building event in north Belfast.
A 40-year-old man was charged last night in relation to the alert, in which police said a van driver was ordered at gunpoint to bring what he believed was a live bomb to the Houben Centre on the Crumlin Road.
The man has been charged with preparation of terrorist acts, hijacking and placing an article causing bomb hoax and is due to appear before Belfast Magistrates Court today.
A 48-year-old woman, who was arrested on Tuesday under the Terrorism Act, has been released.
A 38-year-old woman, who was arrested on Saturday on suspicion of offences includ- ing possession of a firearm in suspicious circumstances, was previously also released pending further enquiries.
Last Friday’s incident has been linked to opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol, which puts an economic border down the Irish Sea.
A veteran loyalist later told The Irish News that “things are going to keep escalating” if the British government-agreed protocol does not go.
They added that Dublin could be a target but there is no threat to “nationalists, Catholics or any civilian population whatsoever, absolutely not”.
“As matters continue to escalate minds will start to turn towards what loyalists see as the aggressors in all this and that would naturally mean turning towards Dublin,” the source said.
The threat came after it emerged an office window be-longing to UUP leader Doug Beattie had been smashed in Portadown, hours after he said he will no longer take part in anti-protocol rallies.
Alliance Party Policing Board member John Blair last night said all threats and attacks are wrong.
“Any threat against public representatives from any place or against the property of any politician in Northern Ireland is wrong and must be utterly condemned,” he said.
“It is important that discourse is democratic and fair and no attempt should be made at any time to escalate tensions.”
He said the majority of people don’t want violence.
“The people of Northern Ireland made it clear a gener- ation and more ago on their
clear wish to move away from violence together for ever,” he said.
“In the current context anyone calling for or addressing public gatherings needs to take full responsibility for all rhetoric, to be balanced, reasonable and in tune with public thinking that Northern Ireland should be moving forward.”
Meanwhile, PSNI and Garda officers yesterday conducted searches of trains travelling between Belfast and Dublin following information that a device may have been left on a carriage.
Trains were delayed during the security operation.
A PSNI spokesperson said last night that “nothing untoward has been found”.
