Irish Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan has pledged the ‘absolute co-operation’ of gardai

Everyone in Northern Ireland has a responsibility to “leave no stone unturned” to defeat the threat from dissident republicans, Hilary Benn has said.

Irish Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan has pledged the “absolute co-operation” of gardai to investigate a car bomb attack on Dunmurry police station.

Detectives investigating the attack on Saturday have been granted an additional 36 hours by the courts to question a 66-year-old man.

The man was arrested on Tuesday under the Terrorism Act, and taken to Musgrave Serious Crime Suite for questioning.

On Saturday, a male delivery driver was hijacked in the Twinbrook area of west Belfast.

A device was placed inside the vehicle and he was ordered to drive to the police station.

The car exploded outside the station as people were being evacuated, prompting widespread political condemnation.

The New IRA claimed the attack in a statement to the Irish News.

Northern Ireland Secretary Mr Benn said the dissident attack was discussed during a meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference on Thursday.

Mr Benn said: “I have been briefed as you would expect on what happened by the PSNI who are working extremely closely with security partners.

“I know just how hard they work every single day to tackle the threat that these very small groups of people represent to the people of Northern Ireland, their safety and their security.

“You will have seen an arrest has already been made and searches have been conducted in east and west Belfast.

“In order to be able to defeat this we need to find those responsible and bring them to justice.

“If there is anyone that has any information whatsoever that can assist the police in bringing those who did this to account, please contact the PSNI.

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“This is a responsibility on the whole of the community of Northern Ireland to leave no stone unturned to defeat this threat.”
The Dunmurry incident followed a similar dissident attack on Lurgan police station just weeks earlier when the device did not explode.

Mr Benn said: “Both of these targeted the lives of police officers and members of the public and they put their lives at risk.

“We are resolute in our commitment to find those responsible.”
Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee said the meeting was an “important and timely opportunity to exchange information on security operations”.

She added: “Both the British and Irish governments have been clear in our condemnation of those attacks, the mentality behind them.

“They endangered members of the public as well as the men and women of the PSNI.

“Those behind the attacks represent nobody and offer nothing except violence, criminality and fear.”
Mr O’Callaghan added: “Mindless acts of violence such as that must be chased down and the people responsible apprehended and brought to justice.

“I was very pleased to be able to assure during the course of our meeting of the absolute co-operation of An Garda Siochana in terms of any assistance that is required in respect of the investigation.

“There is a very strong relationship between the gardai and the PSNI and I want to see that relationship continue and we need to ensure that we find the evil perpetrators responsible for this mindless act.”