A man in his thirties was injured in a bomb attack on a bar in Co Antrim last night. The attack was immediately claimed by the Orange Volunteers, a dissident loyalist paramilitary group.
The explosion occurred shortly after 10 p.m. at the Barleycorn pub on the Seven Mile Straight in Muckamore, near Antrim town.
One man was injured in the explosion. He sustained leg and chest wounds, but it is understood that they are not life-threatening. He was removed by ambulance to Antrim Area Hospital, where his condition was described later last night as "satisfactory".
The bomb was left at the base of a wall facing the front door of the pub. The injured man was leaving the premises when it exploded. The area around the bar was immediately sealed off by the RUC and forensic experts moved in. Police at the scene described the pub as "a very quiet establishment".
Staff and customers last night refused to comment except to say that they were shocked by the attack. Local people said that the only motive for the bomb attack could be sectarian.
The hardline Loyalist Volunteer Force was once very active in the area, but the group called a ceasefire last year. However, some disillusioned members are understood to have joined the Orange Volunteers, which is vehemently opposed to the Belfast Agreement.
The Orange Volunteers carried out similar attacks in Co Antrim in recent weeks. In February, the paramilitary group claimed responsibility for a grenade attack on the Whitehorse Inn outside Crumlin. No one was injured.
Three weeks ago, the group carried out a pipe-bomb attack on the Derryhirk Inn in Aughagallon. Again, no one was injured in the incident.