Device at GAA club could have killed, says PSNI

An explosive device found at the gates of a GAA club in the North had the potential to kill children playing nearby, police said tonight.

The distress flare was found by a GAA official as youngsters aged between 10 and 14 were about to start training at the pitch in Upper Springfield Road, west Belfast.

The Lámh Dhearg club was evacuated before British army bomb disposal experts made the object safe this evening.

Inspector Mark Shaw said the device was viable and had the potential to kill if activated.

“The placing of this device was a despicable act especially as a large number of children were in the vicinity at the time it was discovered,” he said.

“This is an act which should be condemned by the whole community and I would urge anyone with information to contact police.”

A GAA club spokesman said the club would be reviewing its security in the wake of the incident.

Sinn Féin’s Bairbre de Brun and Alex Attwood of the SDLP blamed loyalists for the incident.

“It is only through good fortune that this device was discovered,” Ms de Brun said.

“People in west Belfast are angry at this attack on our young people. Those responsible deliberately decided to target a sports facility which they knew was used by children.”

Mr Attwood described the incident as sinister.

“In the week when there was a Police Ombudsman’s report into the murder of a GAA member, this loyalist attack, its nature and place, is even more disgraceful,” he said.

“This must not be evidence of a loyalist campaign again targeting the GAA.”

A police spokeswoman said a number of items were taken away for forensic examination.