G8 Resort Was Dissident Bomb Target

An attempted bomb attack in Fermanagh was intended to target the hotel where the G8 summit will be held at Lough Erne in June, according to Óglaigh na hÉireann.

The dissident republican group made the claim in a statement to UTV. It follows the discovery of a 60kg device in a car in the Derrylin Road area of Fermanagh at the weekend.

Police initially believed Lisnaskea Station was the target of the bomb, but Óglaigh na hÉireann say it was intended for the Lough Erne resort.

In June, the world's most powerful leaders will descend upon Fermanagh for the annual G8 meeting.

The meetings always spark controversy, as anti-capitalist protestors from all over the world follow the G8 summits to oppose what they see as the uneven distribution of wealth by the world's richest nations.

The resort where the summit will be held is just 16 miles from where the bomb was discovered at the weekend.

UTV says Óglaigh na hÉireann used a codeword during the statement, and also said they were responsible for a foiled mortar-type bomb attack on a police station in Belfast earlier this month.

SDLP Policing spokesperson Conall McDevitt said: "The PSNI and Garda deserve our congratulations and thanks for intercepting another viable bomb, this time in County Fermanagh.

"The people of Ireland reject and have always rejected violence. Those who are still taking a violent path and pursuing a futile and pointless strategy."

Sinn Féin Fermanagh & South Tyrone MLA Phil Flanagan added: "The faceless people behind this type of activity need to realise that their actions are futile."

DUP Fermanagh & South Tyrone MLA Arlene Foster said the people responsible "do not enjoy any support in this community and in fact no one knows what they are trying to achieve, because they have yet to explain how their actions would deliver Irish unity."

(IT)