Bomb Alert Disrupts Police Meeting

A north Antrim District Policing Partnership meeting was abandoned last night following a bomb scare.

Loyalists have been blamed for the incident, which forced DPP members to cancel its Mosside meeting just 45 minutes before it was due to commence.

Police were alerted to a warning shortly after 6.15pm, and later carried out a controlled explosion in the village.

Locals, many of whom were evacuated from their homes, told Sinn Fein DPP chair Oliver McMullan they believed loyalists had orchestrated the attack.

Mr McMullan, a Moyle councillor, said it was likely the meeting was targeted because he is chairman.

The Sinn Fein man told the BBC he was looking forward to engaging with the community.

"This would have allowed the community to feed their concerns and opinions into the Area Policing Plan, as other local communities have done before."

Mr McMullan said the DPP would not bow to those with no support or mandate, and would work to rearrange the meeting.

Three DPP meeting have been forced to cancel across the province since July.

Last week, dissident republicans disrupted a Derry meeting, physically ramming their way into the venue, blowing whistles and throwing missiles.

The latest incident was condemned by Northern Ireland Policing Board Chair Barry Gilligan.

He said: "Aside from preventing the Mosside community from having the opportunity to engage and discuss local policing issues, this incident has caused serious disruption to local people and particularly those who had to be moved out of their homes."

(PR/KMcA)