Nationalist and unionist politicians have condemned yesterday's attack on two bars in west Belfast. The Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, accused loyalists of being responsible and said it was fortunate that no one was killed.
Three men were treated for shrapnel injuries at the Royal Victoria Hospital after the explosion outside the Red Devils bar and Caffrey's bar at the junction of the Falls Road and Broadway, shortly after 12.30 a.m. yesterday.
It is understood that a white car, believed to be a Nissan Primera, pulled up outside the Red Devils bar and a young man tried to get into the building through the fire doors, but was confronted by one of the security staff. The man then threw the device at a bar opposite, Caffrey's, where 250 people had gathered, before being driven off towards the M1 motorway and a neighbouring loyalist area.
The device exploded minutes later, injuring the three men who were walking past the scene. They were hit by ball bearings packed inside the homemade grenade. None of the men was seriously injured and they were released from hospital later.
An RUC spokesman said the car used in the grenade attack bore the registration number, LIB 3645. He added that police were treating the incident as sectarian.
Mr Arthur Rooney, owner of the two pubs, said customers had been shocked and frightened. He said security at the premises would be reviewed. "Thank God, this did not happen on Saturday afternoon during the FA Cup Final."
After visiting the scene of the explosion, Mr Adams appealed to unionists, particularly the UUP, "to implement the agreement reached, otherwise the continuing vacuum will be filled by the type of people who did this". He accused loyalists of being behind the attack, and asked: "Where would the peace process have been if people had died here?"
However, the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party, Mr David Ervine, rejected Mr Adams's comments, saying he believed loyalist dissidents were responsible. "We have to face facts, dissidents do exist," he said.
Condemning the attack, Mr Ervine said he believed it was only the tip of the iceberg and warned there was a strong possibility of further attacks by dissident loyalists in the coming weeks.
"The oxygen is being sucked out of the credibility of the Good Friday agreement, and they see this as their opportunity. The more it grinds down, the more they think they are winning and the more ambitious they become," he said.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews, said it was extremely fortunate there had not been more serious injuries, and those responsible were "enemies of the Good Friday agreement".
He called for the agreement to be implemented in full. "All those who are committed to the Good Friday agreement must realise that only its full implementation will end the kind of outrage we have seen this morning," he said.
The Ulster Unionist Party said the "cowardly and sickening" attack was an attempt to destroy the Belfast Agreement and provoke the IRA. Mr Michael McGimpsey, of the UUP, said the bars on the Falls Road were chosen "for no other reason than they were going to kill Catholics".
Sir Reg Empey, of the UUP, said the incident should add impetus to efforts to resolve the decommissioning impasse. "We have been conscious for some months now of the risks that are being run by these attacks, the potential out there for something terrible to happen. It does add a flavour of urgency to it."
The SDLP Assembly member, Dr Joe Hendron, also expressed his concern. "I hope we are not going back to the bad old days, but everybody concerned must be vigilant at all times," he said.