Man arrested in connection with MI5 headquarters bombing

A man was arrested today in connection with the car bomb attack on the North’s MI5 headquarters.

The 30-year-old suspect is being questioned at Antrim serious crime suite, police said.

A Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) spokeswoman said he was arrested in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast.

The car bomb at Palace Barracks in Holywood, Co Down, early on Monday morning was claimed by the Real IRA.

It exploded minutes after security powers were transferred from London to Belfast at midnight.

A taxi driver was taken hostage in north Belfast and held for two hours before being forced to drive the device to the barracks.

Security personnel were evacuating the area when the device exploded and some of the 30 to 40 fleeing residents dived for cover to avoid shrapnel.

Police chiefs on both sides of the border yesterday vowed to stand together against the dissident republican threat.

Earlier this year, a guardhouse at Newry Courthouse, Co Down, was damaged following another republican car bomb attack.