Security alert in Co. Fermanagh

[sammymaguire]

Courtesy of The Irish Times

Several families had to evacuate their homes in the North today after the discovery of what police fear could be another huge terrorist bomb near the border.

As Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson prepared to meet British prime minister Gordon Brown to discuss funding to enable the transfer of policing and justice powers from London to Belfast, a stretch of road was sealed off in Co Fermanagh.

Security forces moved in after warnings that a device had been left by republican dissident near the village of Roslea on the Lisnaskea Road.

Last week a 600lb bomb was defused in south Armagh amid claims that the threat posed by republicans opposed to the peace process was as high as at any time since the Omagh bomb which killed 29 people in Omagh, Co Tyrone, in August 1998.

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, who accompanied Mr Robinson at today's London talks, has already warned that unless the new justice department is set up before the end of the year, the transfer of powers could be delayed until after the next general election.

Today's meeting is a new attempt to reach agreement on the level of funding, which could run to hundreds of millions of pounds.

Mr Robinson said any agreement would have to have the approval of Conservative leader David Cameron.

He said: "There is a possibility of an alternative government, and it would be irresponsible of us to simply tie up a deal with the present occupant of Downing Street, to find that in a year's time everything was to change."

Police said the security operation came after officers were made aware of various claims made in recent weeks and months about explosive devices left or abandoned in the area.

They had been made in telephone calls to local businesses and media organisations.

A statement said: "While every effort has been made to resolve these claims, which come from a small number of criminals who appear intent on disrupting the lives of businesses and residents of the area, it has become necessary to conduct a search.

"We are committed to keeping disruption to an absolute minimum. The culpability for any that does take place lies squarely with those who made the claims.

"They must not be allowed to ruin the lives of local residents and businesses.

"The claims made in Fermanagh are in addition to a number of incidents in the county over the past 18 months in which explosive devices targeting members of the security forces have been planted.

"The discovery and disposal of a massive bomb in South Armagh in recent days underlines our need for a careful and controlled response to these claims."

[full back]

Didnt omaghgael tell us about this a week or 2 ago


Re: Forkhill Bomb - Wtf??
« Reply #48 on: September 09, 2009, 11:58:03 PM »   

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i have a friend in the police who says there is another 'device' in fermanagh they know about but havent made public yet. also said the forkhill bomb was viable and a real threat unlike previous finds recently.

[orangeman]

Didnt omaghgael tell us about this a week or 2 ago


Re: Forkhill Bomb - Wtf??
« Reply #48 on: September 09, 2009, 11:58:03 PM »   

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i have a friend in the police who says there is another 'device' in fermanagh they know about but havent made public yet. also said the forkhill bomb was viable and a real threat unlike previous finds recently.

Correct - he did - what's this all about ? Do the cops wake up one morning and decide at the morning briefing," oh jesus lads, I forgot all about that unexploded bomb they told us about 3 weeks ago. We really shoud do something about that !!!"

[orangeman]

Families moved over bomb warning 

The PSNI are searching the area around the B36 road
At least 12 families have been moved from their homes in Fermanagh following warnings about abandoned bombs.

Houses in the Lisnaskea Road area of Roslea were evacuated early on Wednesday morning.

Police said there had been a number of warnings about explosive devices being abandoned in the area in recent weeks. The discovery of a 600lb bomb in south Armagh last week underlined the need for "a careful and controlled response," they said.

Oliver Wilson, the manager of the nearby Share Centre, has offered shelter to those put out of their homes.

"These are neighbours of ours and so, what we would say is, if any of those people don't have a home for the next night or so, until this matter has been resolved, we would be very keen to offer them whatever support we can.

"We would have accommodation here that we're quite happy to make available to them at this very difficult time," he said.

Local councillor Harold Andrews said he received an early morning phone call about a bomb.

"The caller said it was somewhere on the B36 at Roslea and about a mile out on the main Lisnaskea to Rosslea Road."

In a statement, police said the B36 between Roslea and Dresternan would be closed to traffic and diversions were in place.

They said a search was necessary because of "a small number of criminals who appear intent on disrupting the lives of businesses and residents of the area".

[pintsofguinness]

Didnt omaghgael tell us about this a week or 2 ago


Re: Forkhill Bomb - Wtf??
« Reply #48 on: September 09, 2009, 11:58:03 PM »   

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
i have a friend in the police who says there is another 'device' in fermanagh they know about but havent made public yet. also said the forkhill bomb was viable and a real threat unlike previous finds recently.

       

[Maguire01]

A 'device' in the Roslea area is hardly a once in a lifetime occurrence.

[omagh_gael]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/foyle_and_west/8258305.stm

According to reports from BBC there was no bomb found, I wonder was this due to them searching the wrong area? The dissidents leading the cops on a wild goose chase? Or maybe scaremongering among the government/psni in order to reinforce their argument for devolved policing/justice powers?unlikely I think. Hard to tell whether this is a serious threat or an exercise to cause maximum havoc, whatever it is it's nit good