Two arrested over security alert at Coveney event in Belfast

Screengrab taken from video issued by the Hume Foundation of Minister Simon Coveney, being ushered from the room due to a security alert. Photo: Hume Foundation/PA Wire.

Two people remain in custody as police in Northern Ireland investigate a security alert in Belfast which led to the Foreign Affairs Minister being evacuated from a peace event.

On Sunday afternoon, police said a 41-year-old man had been arrested by those investigating the security alert on Friday, following the arrest of a 38-year-old woman.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland said detectives from the Serious Crime Branch had arrested the man under the Terrorism Act and he was being questioned at Musgrave Serious Crime Suite.

Earlier, police said they had arrested a 38-year-old woman and seized a suspected firearm, after a security alert in Belfast on Friday led to Minister Simon Coveney being evacuated from a peace and reconciliation event.

The UVF is suspected of involvement in the incident.

The PSNI said that following searches in the north and west of Belfast, a suspected firearm, two vehicles, a number of controlled drugs and a large sum of cash were seized.

A police spokesperson said: "A 38-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm in suspicious circumstances, possessing criminal property and concealing criminal property, and is currently in custody assisting police with their inquiries."

A PSNI spokesperson said she was in custody assisting police with their inquiries.

Mr Coveney had been addressing an event organised by the John and Pat Hume Foundation at the Houben Centre in North Belfast when he was ushered from the room.

Simon Coveney was speaking at the event organised by the John and Pat Hume Foundation in Belfast when he abruptly ended his speech and was ushered from the room. Picture: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

The Houben Centre, on the Crumlin Road, was evacuated and a funeral service at nearby Holy Cross church was also disrupted.

On Friday, police said that a van was hijacked and forced the driver to park close to the centre where Mr Coveney was speaking.

PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Mark McEwan said the driver of the van was threatened by two gunmen and forced to drive a device that he believed to be a live bomb.

The device was declared a hoax but Chief Constable Mark McEwan condemned what occurred as “disgraceful”.