Two people remained in custody last night as police investigated a security alert in Belfast that led to Simon Coveney being evacuated from a peace event.
The foreign affairs minister was forced to leave the stage mid-speech on Friday after a vehicle was hijacked and driven to the event with a hoax bomb.
The event was organised by the John and Pat Hume Foundation.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said yesterday that a 41-year-old man had been arrested by detectives investigating the security alert.
The Ulster Volunteer Force is suspected of involvement in the incident, which resulted in the Houben Centre, on Crumlin Road, being evacuated. A funeral service at the nearby Holy Cross church was also disrupted.
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Police said the driver of a van was threatened by two gunmen and forced to drive a device which he believed to be a bomb to the church.
The PSNI said detectives from the serious crime branch had arrested a man under the Terrorism Act and he was being questioned at Musgrave Serious Crime Suite.
A 38-year-old woman is also being questioned by police in relation to the incident. Yesterday morning the PSNI said the woman had been arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm in suspicious circumstances, possessing criminal property and concealing criminal property. She was in custody assisting police with their inquiries.
Searches were carried out in the Ballysillan and Springmartin areas of north and west Belfast on Saturday evening. A suspected firearm, two vehicles, a quantity of controlled drugs and a large sum of cash were seized.
The incident on Friday was condemned by all sections of the community in Northern Ireland.
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Michelle O’Neill, the Sinn Fein Stormont leader, said: “Those determined to cause instability and disruption will not succeed. Those of us committed to peace will not be deterred.”
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, said most people “want to get on with their lives” and have “no truck with those who cling to violence”.
Coveney had been speaking about the importance of reconciliation in Northern Ireland for about five minutes when the incident happened. In a tweet later, the minister thanked the PSNI. “Saddened & frustrated that someone has been attacked & victimised in this way and my thoughts are with him & his family,” he said.
Last week the level of terrorism threat from dissident republicans in Northern Ireland was lowered from severe to substantial for the first time in 12 years.
