Real IRA blamed for Derry bomb attacks

The Real IRA has been blamed for attacks on the homes of two police personnel in Co Derry.

A senior Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) commander said he was in “no doubt” the dissident republican group had targeted the policeman and police doctor near the village of Claudy.

An explosive device detonated outside the front door of the officer’s house, while an army bomb disposal team was deployed to make safe a viable bomb left in the garden of the forensic medical officer (FMO).

Three men – two aged 36 and the other 28 – were arrested in Derry city this morning in connection with the incidents.

The policeman’s home on the Ervey Road was unoccupied at the time of the explosion but he returned this morning to find the front of his property damaged.

The GP of 40 years' standing and his wife, who live in the Learmount Road area, were evacuated from their home after a proactive police search discovered the device in the early hours.

PSNI Chief Superintendent Stephen Martin said he was confident he knew which dissident group was responsible.

“I am absolutely certain this was the work of the Real IRA,” he said.

Mr Martin, the most senior ranking officer in Derry, said there was no justification, legitimacy or community support for the attacks.

“These two servants of the community were targeted by people whose actions stand in stark contrast to their own,” he added.

The officer said the men were shaken but both were determined to continue serving the community.

“The job of an FMO is to assist police with people in their custody and to ensure that the health and wellbeing of those individuals are paramount,” he explained.

“Throughout all of the Troubles, FMOs were considered neutral and independent and had never come under attack.

“These were terrible incidents. Anyone standing close by when the one that exploded went off would have been seriously injured or killed.”

Mr Martin outlined the sequence of events that had led to the attacks.

He said that at around midnight, police were alerted to two cars on fire in separate areas of Derry.

Then, as a result of what he described as proactive police work, he said officers discovered the suspect device in the garden of the doctor.

He said shortly after 7am, the police officer, who has been in the PSNI for three years, returned home after night duty to find his house damaged.

Asked if the officer had been targeted because he was a Catholic, Mr Martin said: “I do not know the answer, to that, but I have no doubt that they targeted the police officer because he is a police officer and because these small anti-peace groups are trying to drag us back.

“As to why they targeted the doctor, I cannot begin to understand how a man who has been a General Practitioner, a man who has given 40 years of service to the community is deemed to be a target.

“Right throughout the troubles, doctors of this nature were regarded as neutral, as independent, and were never attacked. I think this is indicative of the recklessness and desperation of these small anti-peace groups when they can find some rationale for targeting a doctor.”

Police have urged people living in the Claudy, Eglinton and Waterside areas to be extremely vigilant in the wake of the incidents.

The Chair of the Northern Ireland Policing Board Brian Rea condemned the attacks.

“These separate attacks on two police employees are totally unjustified and it is fortunate that no-one was killed or seriously injured,” he said.

“The people who carried out these mindless acts of violence have nothing positive to contribute to our society and will not succeed in destroying the huge progress that has been made in policing across communities.

“I would appeal to anyone with any information about these serious incidents to go to the police immediately.”

All the main political parties at Stormont also condemned the incidents.