Man, 66, appears in court after bomb attack on Dunmurry station

A 66-year-old man was due before Lisburn Magistrates’ Court on Saturday after a bomb exploded outside Dunmurry Police Station, a blast police say underscored the pressure of a renewed dissident threat in Northern Ireland.

The man was arrested under the Terrorism Act in the Dunmurry area on Tuesday, April 28, and charged with attempted murder, possessing explosives with intent to endanger life or cause serious injury to property, causing an explosion likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to property, possession of articles for use in terrorism and hijacking by compelling a person to act. All charges were to be reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service.

The explosion happened outside the station on Saturday night, April 25, after police said a fast-food delivery driver was hijacked and forced to take the vehicle there. Officers said the device was a gas cylinder bomb. No one was injured, but residents were being evacuated as the blast went off, including two babies, and officers had to run into danger to clear nearby homes.

The PSNI said the attack was likely the work of the New IRA and described it as the second such attack in less than a month. The group later claimed responsibility in a statement to the Irish News and reportedly said the bomb had been intended to kill officers as they left the station.

Chief Constable Jon Boutcher condemned the attack as reckless and dangerous, and said it would not deter the force. The wider response has been shaped by more than the criminal case itself, with police preparing a high-visibility operation across Northern Ireland as officials weigh whether the bombing marks an isolated strike or part of a broader dissident campaign.

The alarm is sharpened by the pattern. On March 30, a similar attempted proxy bombing at Lurgan Police Station led to the evacuation of around 100 homes after a delivery driver was hijacked and a crude but viable device was found in a vehicle. Taken together, the two attacks have revived concerns about public confidence, policing demands and the fragility of post-Good Friday stability in communities still living with the threat of dissident violence.