Security is to be enhanced on the property in South Belfast used by civil servants of the Irish Government when working in Northern Ireland. It comes after Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney left a peace-building event in north Belfast on Friday after the UVF forced a driver to transport what turned out to be a prank in the Houben Center car park where the minister was delivering a speech. A senior credible source said they still had access to weapons, some have not been decommissioned and others have been acquired in recent years. They also have a small number of RPG rocket launchers. The rocket launchers were part of a mission that included VZ58 rifles and grenades that were smuggled into Belfast via Liverpool in 1987. They were taken to a Co Armagh farmhouse to be divided into three paramilitary groups – UVF, UDA and Ulster. The UDA lost its share of the crypt almost immediately when a convoy of cars full of rifles and ammunition stopped at a police roadblock. About half of the weapons the UVF took from the farmhouse were also recovered, following information that led police to a house in north Belfast, but the rest remained under group control. Many of Ulster Resistance weapons were never recovered. With paramilitary groups on fire since 1994, the weapons were believed to have been silenced forever, but now sources say they could be used to attack Irish government-linked properties and “pro-protocol” policy offices. There is no indication that there is an immediate threat to the life of any individual, with credible sources saying that buildings will be targeted and not people. Mr Coveney’s targeting in northern Belfast on Friday marked a dramatic escalation in opposition to the protocol. The funeral in the nearby church of the Holy Cross was also interrupted. Sources of the faithful warned that the bomb alert was only the beginning of a renewed campaign against the protocol. It will include the cancellation of any event attended by representatives of the Irish Government. Notting Hill Palace property used by senior Irish government officials and officials is now also on the radar of the faithful. Friday’s bomb alert, in which an electrician was threatened at gunpoint and ordered to drive what he thought was a bomb at the Houben Center event, was sanctioned at the highest level of the UVF. Other options are being discussed, with the UDA expected to step up its anti-protocol campaign in the coming weeks. A senior source of the faithful said: “The faithful are reluctant travelers on this path and really want just to settle the protocol, not a prolonged campaign, but in the absence of any movement, other attacks will occur. “The faithful keep a small number of RPGs that could be aimed at a symbolic building of the Irish government,” the source added. Over the weekend, the man who was forced at gunpoint to drive his van to the event said he was afraid he would be torn to pieces. The electrician, who is around 40, told Sunday Life: “I did not take care of myself. “My priority was to save people.” The man recalled being confronted by two gunmen, their faces covered with scarves and a gun pointed at his head. He said: “I thought at first I was going to be killed. I thought I was just another contractor aiming. I told them to let me go, just take the van. “ The man added: “I was stuck in the middle seat, the other had his gun pointed at me. I was told that if I did not do the job, a car would follow and there was a guarantee that I would be shot. They said, “We know who you are and where we can find you.” As soon as he entered the garden, the electrician hurried to warn the visitors. “I did my best to make sure there were no deaths,” he said. A 38-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm under suspicious circumstances, possession of criminal property and concealment of criminal assets by police investigating Friday’s incident was later released on police bail pending further investigation. Officers searched the Ballysillan and Springmartin areas of north and west Belfast on Saturday night. A 41-year-old man arrested under the Terrorism Act was still being questioned in custody tonight.
