Dissident Bomb Defused In County Down

A 300lb car bomb has been found in in the North five days after a telephoned warning claimed a device had been left in the County Down village of Castlewellan.

Police and army disposal experts discovered an abandoned car on Dublin Road on Saturday afternoon. Several controlled explosions were carried out on what police called "suspect items".

It is thought the bomb was planted by dissident republicans who were trying to target the Ballykinler army base.

PSNI Superintendent Greg Blain said that the bomb had been left near a primary school and was on a road used regularly by pupils, parents and teachers.

"The people who carried this out showed a callous disregard for the lives of everyone in our community," he said.

"They abandoned it in an area close to local houses and schools, and then phoned through vague warnings about the locality and nature of the threat," he said.

"They placed the lives of every man, woman and child in the area at risk." South Down Stormont Assembly member Margaret Ritchie said those behind the bomb deserved nothing but contempt from the community.

"For five days [people in the area] have been worried and suffered massive inconvenience, having to take long detours to get to work or bring children to school.  Those who planted it should be in absolutely no doubt - we are not going back to the past, even if they are locked in it."