Army bomb squad called out every other day in Northern Ireland in last three years

by Maria McCann

The army bomb squad was called out every other day in Northern Ireland in the last three years.

There have been more than six hundred and thirty alerts here since January 2014.

The figures have been obtained in a freedom of information request by Q radio news.

One hundred and thirteen were viable devices while around five hundred and twenty of the incidents were hoaxes, according to official figures.

A senior police officer said a large amount of police resources are spent dealing with such alerts in trying to keep people safe.

Superintendent Muir Clarke said: "In the case of viable devices, they are not just attacks on the intended target. They place the lives of everyone in the area at risk. 

"Those responsible are totally reckless in their disregard for their neighbours and for people living in the area where they occur. 

"They show no regard for the lives of anyone, be it police officers or local people."

He continued: "They often fail to give accurate information about the exact location of a device, causing further risk, distress and disruption to the community and police."

The number of call outs to explosives halved in 2016 compared with figures from the year before.

In the first ten months of last year, army technical officers disposed of twenty three live bombs while there were fifty four in 2015.

The majority of incidents were in Belfast City however there has been a significant rise in alerts in the Antrim and Newtownabbey area.

It's not yet clear what's caused the four fold hike there from ten to forty three in the last year.

The Chairman of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland Mark Lindsay said security alerts cause a significant amount of disruption whether they are live bombs or hoaxes.

"The police or military have no way of knowing whatsoever whether they are real or a hoax and so they have to be treated as real all the time.

"When PSNI officers attend any of these incidents, we have to remember they are put there for a reason and some of that might be to target or monitor police patterns for future attacks.

"What everyone should bear in mind when viable devices are found, they can be indiscriminate and it is not beyond the realms of possibility that somewhere down the line we could see a police officer or an innocent member of the community murdered" he added.

Prison Officer Adrian Ismay died from his injuries as a result of a blast under his car in east Belfast in March 2016.

Violent dissident republicans are thought to be responsible for a large proportion of the incidents.

It comes after residents were put out of their homes in Lurgan on Sunday during a security operation.

It was sparked in Allenhill Park by an elaborate hoax.

A viable device was also found in the Markets area of Belfast on Friday morning.

It is amid fears the political crisis at Stormont could lead to an escalation of violence.

It follows a gun attack on a police officer on the Crumlin Road on Sunday January 22.

The victim is now recovering after he received wounds to his arm and wrist.

The current threat level for Northern Ireland-related terrorism here is severe.

A spokesperson from the Northern Ireland policing board said it is clear there are still those who want to bring disruption and potentially death to our community.

"The PSNI need the support and patience of the community when responding to incidents as they have an important job to do in dealing with alerts. 

"This often means extensive disruption to people's lives and the diversion of police resources away from other duties.

"Those behind alerts and attacks have absolutely nothing to offer our society. As a Board we urge anyone with information to bring it to the police or anonymously through Crimestoppers."