Bomb Found At Mail Sorting Office

A Royal Mail sorting office has been evacuated after a bomb was found on the premises in Mallusk, County Antrim.

The device was discovered at around 11.45am on Wednesday morning. The building was evacuated for over six hours before the army disarmed what police called "a viable and unstable device".

A PSNI spokeswoman said no warning had been made about the device and she would not say who it had been addressed to.

Police have also said they are not investigating a sectarian of terrorist motive in connection with the attack.

The alert came just over a week after Northern Ireland's police chief Sir Hugh Orde issued an alert over what he said was an imminent renewed campaign by the dissident Real IRA.

Thomas Burns, the SDLP assembly member for South Antrim, described those behind the bomb as reckless and "foolish beyond belief".

He added: "Their grossly irresponsible behaviour has endangered the lives of the men and women who work at this location and that is absolutely unforgivable."

Alliance Party Leader David Ford said the incident had "sent a shudder through the whole community", adding: "What sort of person would create a device like this and put postal workers' lives at risk?"

(DW)