Device found at sports club

The device was found outside the sports club

A distress flare found at the gates of a Gaelic Athletic Association club in west Belfast had the potential to kill, the police have said.

The device was found by a GAA official just as 40 children, aged between 10 and 14, were about to start training at the pitch in Hannahstown at lunchtime on Sunday.

The Lámh Dhearg club was subsequently evacuated as Army Technical Officers examined the object and made it safe.

A number of items were taken away for forensic examination.

A PSNI spokesman said if the device had activated, "it had the potential to kill".

"The placing of this device was a despicable act especially as a large number of children were in the vicinity at the time it was discovered," he added.

"This is an act which should be condemned by the whole community."

Items were removed for forensic examination

A GAA club spokesperson said the children were very lucky to have escaped injury.

He said the club would be reviewing its security following the incident.

Sinn Fein's Bairbre de Brun blamed loyalists.

"It is only through good fortune that this device was discovered. People in west Belfast are angry at this attack on our young people," she said.

"Those responsible deliberately decided to target a sports facility which they knew was used by children."

Detectives in Lisburn are appealing for anyone with information about the incident to contact them.