§ Rev. Ian Paisleyasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland under what circumstances Lt. Paul Currell of the Royal Anglian Regiment was seriously injured by an Irish Republican Army bomb on Tuesday 25th July in Belfast; what follow-up operations have been mounted; and what arrests have been made.
§ Mr. Mason, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 31st July 1978], gave the following information:
Shortly after midday on 25th July an explosive device concealed in the base of a lamp post was detonated near an Army patrol in Clonard Gardens, Belfast. The patrol commander, Second Lieutenant Paul Currell, received serious abdominal and leg injuries. Three other members of the patrol were treated for shock and four civilians, including a 73-year old woman, were injured. In the follow-up operation, six people, all of whom have since been released, were arrested, and a quantity of explosives and bomb-making equipment, together with a rifle and ammunition, were found. No further arrests have yet been made, but police inquiries into the incident are continuing.