Welsh alert over former paramilitary

The Assembly building was searched by police

A security alert was triggered at the Welsh Assembly after it emerged that a former Northern Ireland paramilitary was employed to carry out building work.

The man was employed to help install an air conditioning system at the assembly building in Cardiff Bay.

It later emerged that he had convictions for possessing guns and explosives in the 1980s and was connected to loyalist paramilitaries.

After the man's background was revealed, police carried out detailed searches of the building before declaring it safe.

Last weekend, the Welsh Assembly's headquarters were closed to all visitors while the security operation went on, although nothing was found in the building.

The offices were reopened in time for the Assembly to reconvene on Monday.

'Took no risks'

An Assembly spokesman confirmed that the man's conviction came to light as a result of security vetting procedures.

"Assembly vetting procedures revealed a possible problem with one of the contractors but it would not be appropriate to go into details, " he said.

"Because of the nature of the building we could take no risks and although we were not expecting to find any problems the building was searched over the weekend.

"Nothing to cause alarm was found," he added.

The Assembly conducts security checks on the background of all the people who are employed to work at the Cardiff Bay headquarters.

Specialist search

The spokesman added that no review of security procedures was planned.

All 60 Assembly Members are based at the five-storey converted office block - which also houses the Assembly chamber, committee rooms and civil servants.

A South Wales Police spokeswoman confirmed the Assembly building was closed at the weekend while specialist officers carried out a search.

"South Wales Police were informed of the potential for security to have been compromised at the Welsh Assembly building in Cardiff," she said.