TERRORISTS' BLOOD-CURDLING THREAT AS THEY TARGET IRISH MINISTERS
Sunday World Picture Exclusive
SECURITY SCARE: An officer walks past the van which contains the hoax bomb. Left, officers at the scene and Assistant Chief Constable Mark McEwan talks to media.
THE UVF has warned it will send Irish Government Officials "home in body bags" as the terrorist group take their anti-Protocol campaign to a new level.
The blood-curdling warning from a senior UVF figure comes in the wake of a hoax bomb alert targeting Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney.
EXCLUSIVE BY RICHARD SULLIVAN
THE UVF will target visiting Irish government ministers as they step up their anti-Protocol campaign.
Friday's bomb alert which saw Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney whisked away from a cross-community peace event in Belfast for his own personal safety was the first step in an escalation of a campaign of intimidation, disruption and terror.
LEFT: Billy Hutchinson (Progressive Unionist Party) - Politicial Wing of the UVF, RIGHT: Winston 'Winky' Irvine - UVF 'B' Company Commander. Photo credit to: Stephen Barnes/Alamy Live News Stock Photo.
Both men are members of a loyalist organisation calling itself the LCC (Loyalist Communities Council) it describes itself on Wikipedia as: a group in *orthern Ireland representing Ulster loyalists including the UVF, UDA and Red Hand Commando. It was founded in 2015 in response to perceived neglect of working class loyalists. In the 2017 UK election the LCC issued a statement supporting the DUP and UUP. However, this support was rejected by both parties.
Both of these organisations have (on record) now withdrawn their support for the GFA (Good Friday Agreement) both these organisations represent loyalist paramilitaries and both are strongly involved in the anti-Protocol protests and previously supported the Flag protests both of which has brought loyalist paramilitary attacks back onto the streets of Ulster.
*orthern Ireland Secretary of State Brandon Lewis needs to take action now before things get more out of hand and the loyalist violence . Instead of claiming the 'loyalist paramilitary umbrella group' is "legitimate" he needs to push for some sort of regulation. Both of these terrorist umbrella groups needs to be 'Proscribed' immediately.
The Sunday World can reveal the bomb scare was the work of UVF 'B' Company and was sanctioned at the highest level of the organisation. B Company, which covers the Woodvale area of the greater Shankill, and was, according to sources, previously under the command of Winston 'Winky' Irvine.
Masked men hijacked a van at Sydney Street West off the Shankill and the driver was ordered to drive to the event at the Houben Centre on the Crumlin Road.
Hosted by the John and Pat Hume Foundation, the event was entitled: 'Time To Build The Common Ground and Mr Coveney was five minutes into the speech to guests including community workers from both sides of the divide when he was forced to leave. A controlled explosion was carried out at the scene, and it was later declared a hoax.
EVENT
The Sunday World can also reveal Tánaiste Leo Varadkar is due in Belfast on Wednesday for an event with business leaders. Given the Coveney attack it is unclear if it will go ahead as security chiefs assess the level of threat against visiting politicians.
Secretary of State Brandon Lewis is also due to attend along with Mr Varadkar. Police have already confirmed they believe the UVF was behind Friday's security alert.
The attack represents a sharp increase in the intensity of the anti-Protocol campaign and raises the stakes of more increased violence. UVF sources have told us the bomb alert was a deliberate and direct warning over what loyalists see as the utter failure to resolve the issue of the Irish Sea Border.
Anger over the Protocol has been directed at the Irish government. Last year Mr Varadkar's name and address were plastered in graffiti on a wall in Belfast, and there have been numerous thinly veiled threats issued against Irish government ministers. It inevitably raises questions over the safety of Irish ministers travelling north. Despite obvious political differences, the current Taoiseach Michaeál Martin along with Mr Coveney and Mr Varadkar have been regular visiters to *orthern Ireland without incident.
DISRUPTION
According to loyalist sources, the UVF have every intention of escalating their campaign of intimidation. "This is the start of an orchestrated campaign," said our source, "this was a very deliberate and very much planned, it is not a one-off and will be followed by further actions should Irish ministers continue to hinder the abolition of the Irish Sea Border.
"Friday was a warning, our patience is wearing thin and if they keep coming we'll start sending them back in body bags."
He said the organisation (the UVF) had "little concern" that their actions did not have community support. "We cannot sit back and see *orthern Ireland’s constitutional position come under threat, that is the reason we fought violent republicanism for a generation. We will not be found wanting when it comes to defending our place within the United Kingdom." The UVF orchestrated sporadic street violence last summer (Flag protests) which saw a number of nights of rioting at interface areas in Belfast.
A number of buses were hijacked - on one occasion armed and masked men ordered the passengers off a bus in Newtownards before setting it alight.
The incident is believed to have been the work of the UVF but another organisation calling itself 'Protestant Action Force' and was significant as it signalled the return of guns to the streets.
At the time, paramilitary chiefs called a halt to civic disruption to give talks between the government and the EU a chance of making progress. Almost a year down the line there has been no progress on the Protocol and there seems little prospect of change any time in the near future. The DUP has already pulled down the power-sharing Executive in protest at the Irish Sea Border and now the UVF has drawn their line in the sand.
Members have grown disenchanted over what they see as the betrayal that was the GFA (Good Friday Agreement). They say they were persuaded to back the 1998 peace deal because it secured *orthern Ireland’s place as part of the UK.
This week PUP chief Billy Hutchinson (UVF politicial wing) said the loyalist paramilitary ceasefires would not have happened had they known "the principle of consent was merely symbolic".
The PUP is the political wing of the UVF and Mr Hutchinson went on to say how loyalists felt "betrayed and deceived". Writing on the Unionist Voice (Bryson's) website, he said: "The principle of consent - protecting the Union - is the bedrock of unionist and loyalist support for the Belfast Agreement.
CONSENT
"In the absence of the principal of consent, their is no basis whatsoever of support for the Agreement." Writing for the same website, DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson called for the GFA (Good Friday Agreement) to be renegotiated.
Friday's attack has been widely condemned, with PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Mark McEwan appealing for information. And since the attack two people, one man and one woman were arrested and a suspected firearm was recovered, the woman was released on bail pending ongoing enquiries while the man is still in police custody.
"Just think about this, the victim believed at this point he was driving a van containing a live bomb and that his family were being threatened." Mr McEwan said.
More than 25 homes were evacuated, schools were affected and residents in a nursing home home had to be moved to a different part of the building.
A funeral taking place in the Chapel was also disrupted (pictured below)
He appealed for information on the gunmen and the movements of the van (pictured), registion XJZ 7908.
He said the driver was taken to hospital for treatment, and that a substantial security threat remained, meaning "an attack is likely". Mr Coveney later posted on Twitter he was "saddened and frustrated that someone has been attacked and victimised in this way and my thoughts are with him and his family". He also thanked the PSNI/RUC for its actions in evacuating the building.
With many thanks to the: Sunday World and Richard Sullivan for the EXCLUSIVE original story.
Follow these links to find out more about this story and more details here: Woman arrested by cops investigating hoax bomb attack targeting Simon Coveney
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