§ Rev. Ian Paisleyasked the Minister of State for Defence under what circumstances an Army explosive expert was called to the Royal Ulster Constabulary Station, Toomebridge, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, on the morning of Tuesday, 18th May after it had been bombed; and what was the result of his investigations.
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§ Mr. G. Johnson SmithShortly after 1.45 a.m. on 18th May approximately 10 lb. of high explosive exploded against a side wall of the R.U.C. station in Toomebridge. An Army ammunition technical officer was called to the station and found a battered container that may have held the explosive. This has been passed to the R.U.C. forensic department. The means by which the explosion was initiated has not been discovered.
§ Rev. Ian Paisleyasked the Minister of State for Defence what were the circumstances in which an Army land rover patrol was machine gunned on the Falls Road on Tuesday night, 18th May; what damage resulted; whether the fire was returned; what searches were made; and what arrests were made.
§ Mr. G. Johnson SmithAt 5.45 p.m. on 18th May an Army land rover driving up the Falls Road was overtaken by a civilian car from the rear window of which two men fired several bursts from a Thomson machine gun and a Sterling sub machine gun. One burst hit the windscreen grille and ricocheted. The driver of the land rover swerved on to the pavement out of the line of fire and two shots creased the canopy. The car turned west up Whiterock Road and was lost.
There was no opportunity for the land rover crew to return fire and, in the circumstances of this attack, house-to-house or area searches were not appropriate. A road block was, however, set up, and at 6.10 p.m. the car was found abandoned in Beechview Park. No arrests have so far been made.
§ Rev. Ian Paisleyasked the Minister of State for Defence under what circumstances an Army expert was called to examine the Mayala Bar, Sandy Row, Belfast, after it was bombed by Irish Republican Army terrorists on Thursday morning, 20th May; what were the findings of his investigations; what searches resulted; and what arrests were made.
§ Mr. G. Johnson SmithShortly after 1 a.m. on 20th May an explosive charge was placed on the doorstep of the Moyola Arms in Belfast. There were no casualties but the doors and windows of the public house were blown in and there was 115W minor internal structural damage. The Army ammunition technical officer was called in and confirmed that the charge consisted of some 1 to 2 lb. of explosive with 6 inch nails to increase the fragmentation hazard. The nails have been passed to the R.U.C. forensic department. Apart from the examination at the site of the explosion, no search was mounted. There is no evidence to show who planted the explosive, and no arrests have so far been made.