Dissident republicans have been blamed for a device left in a police cone at a south Armagh racing event which slightly injured two teenagers when it detonated on Saturday.
Police said they were in no doubt that the device had been designed to "maim or kill" members of the security forces.
The device was hidden in a police cone at the Farmacaffley point-to-point races and exploded when the two 16-year-old boys moved it to allow a car to pull away.
According to a police spokesman, the device contained a quantity of high explosives and nails and was designed to go off when the cone was touched.
The teenagers suffered slight shrapnel wounds and burn marks to their lower legs and hands in the blast.
Condemning the attack, the Northern Secretary, Dr Reid, described those responsible for the device as "cowards" and the "lowest of the low".
"These cowards have stooped to new depths in bombing two innocent teenagers at a sporting event. The perpetrators of this vicious explosion do not belong in any right-thinking society, they belong to the past," he added.
The Sinn Féin MLA for the area, Mr Conor Murphy, called on dissident republican paramilitaries to disband saying they had "no policies, no support and nothing to offer".
A UUP MLA, Mr Danny Kennedy, condemned the incident as "contemptible" and "despicable".