Real IRA attacks MI5 HQ

Dissident republicans the Real IRA exploded a car bomb in front of the British secret service’s (MI5) Northern Ireland HQ on April 12, reports the Belfast Telegraph. The incident occurred only minutes after justice powers were devolved from London to Belfast as part of agreements arising from the Northern Ireland peace process. “A taxi driver was taken hostage in north Belfast and held for two hours before being forced to drive the device to near the MI5 base,” the daily reports, adding that “there were no serious injuries.” The Real IRA, a splinter group from the traditional IRA which lay down its arms in 1997, is opposed to the continued British presence in Northern Ireland. Last year, it shot dead two British soldiers, the first killed in the province since 1997. David Ford, Northern Ireland’s first Justice Minister in almost four decades, was sworn in just after the bombing.