Opinion

Dissidents show complete disregard for Ardoyne community

Even by the admittedly low standards of dissident republicans, placing a bomb outside a primary school is a reprehensible act which shows just how little these people care about their local community.

Police said the device left outside Holy Cross Boys' Primary School in Ardoyne was discovered by a passing patrol early on Sunday morning.

Thankfully it did not detonate but clearly this bomb could have caused death and injury, not just to the PSNI personnel who were the intended target but also people living nearby.

As it was, local residents, including the elderly and young children, were subjected to severe disruption after they were moved from their homes in the early hours while the security forces dealt with the bomb, described by police as `sizeable'.

The only people to blame for this upheaval are the dissidents who constructed this device and decided to leave it in a built-up area.

They will have known that transporting explosives and leaving them on the street put the lives of men, women and children in danger.

This complete disregard for local residents will come as no surprise to people given the history of dissident republican violence in Ardoyne.

It is only a year since father of four Michael McGibbon was brutally murdered in an alleyway close to his home and it is a matter of deep regret that his killers remain at large despite appeals for information about those responsible.

The violent dissidents are an absolute blight on the Ardoyne community and the fact that they are still active even though their campaign is going nowhere has to be a source of serious concern.

The message may get through, eventually, that they can achieve more through force of argument than physical force but the clear risk is that more lives will be lost in the time it takes these micro-groups to face up to reality.

They should do the people of Ardoyne and elsewhere a favour and call a halt to their futile campaign before anyone else is killed or injured.