British bomb disposal experts are examining a pipe bomb defused last night near one of Northern Ireland's most exclusive function venues.
British army explosives officers made the device safe outside the gates to Belfast Castle in the north of the city where a wedding reception and another small event were being held.
A number of other items were recovered for examination from the scene on the Antrim Road, an RUC spokeswoman said.
Belfast Castle's assistant manager, who declined to give her name, stressed the incident had taken place a considerable distance away from the main building.
"Things are carrying on as normal, people are just using a different entrance," she said.
The attack comes in a week loyalist paramilitaries attempted to disrupt the peace process in the North with further pipe bombings and an attempted bomb attack in the seaside town of Ballycastle, Co Antrim. The RUC arrested a man in connection with the attempted carbombing which was claimed by the Red Hand Defenders, a cover name used in the past for Ulster Defence Association and Loyalist Volunteer Force attacks.
Meanwhile, two men were taken to hospital suffering from bullet wounds after a paramilitary-style attack on the outskirts of Belfast yesterday.
The victims, aged 23 and 24, were each shot in the leg at Ballyduff quarry in Newtownabbey.