Dissident link to arson attacks

The Poundstretcher store was destroyed by fire

Dissident republicans have been linked to a wave of fire bombings and police have warned there may be further attacks.

This follows the latest in a series of fires that destroyed a shop in County Antrim overnight on Monday.

It was the fifth suspected firebomb incident in Northern Ireland over the past three days.

The cause of the blaze at the Poundstretcher store in Newtownabbey is still being investigated.

Shop owners in Ballymena, Magherafelt, Maghera and Newry were urged to return to their premises and check for incendiary devices on Tuesday.

Assistant Chief Constable Peter Sheridan said dissident republicans were probably behind what was an orchestrated series of fire-bombings.

He said the business community had been briefed on "search strategies" in an effort to thwart the attacks.

ACC Sheridan said lives could have been lost in the incidents so far and those behind the bombs had nothing to offer except job losses.

"It is a possibility that there will be further attacks", he added.

Staff were inside the Poundstretcher store shortly before midnight GMT on Monday when the fire broke out in the stationery section.

Fire Service 'stretched'

Assistant Divisional Fire Officer Isaac King said if this was another in a series of firebomb attacks, then the fire service could be stretched.

"We can't really say yet it is incendiaries, though going by the trend it looks very much like that and if it does take off, it could lead to a stretched brigade," he said.

Kieran Smyth from the shop workers' union, USDAW, said that those behind the attacks were hurting working people.

"It's the employees that might be laid off... some of these companies, one of these days, is going to say that enough is enough and not rebuild," he said.

Meanwhile, key holders of large stores in Londonderry were asked to return to their shops after an incendiary device partially exploded on Monday.

The Homebase store in the Waterside was evacuated at about 2100 GMT, but only minor damage was caused.

The store is in the Crescent Link area of the city where a fire broke out at a Carpet Right shop on Sunday. Police are still investigating the cause of that blaze.

Mitchel McLaughlin, Sinn Fein, said if dissident republicans were behind the firebomb attack in Londonderry they should "wise up" and cease such activity immediately.

'Intercepted'

SDLP councillor Gerry Diver said: "Obviously it is a matter of great concern, especially coming on the back of a fire which completely destroyed the other store at Crescent Link.

Police have confirmed that a fire at the B&Q DIY store near Lisburn was started by an incendiary device.

More than 100 firefighters were involved in tackling the blaze at the warehouse in Sprucefield Retail Park on Sunday night.

There was extensive damage to the rug department and smoke damage to the rest of the property.

At one stage 20 fire engines attended the blaze, which took eight hours to bring under control.

Another viable incendiary device was found in a sports shop in Newry, County Down, on Saturday.