IRISH POLITICAL LEADERS have condemned an attempted bomb attack on a police station in Northern Ireland by suspected dissident republicans. 

On Monday, a delivery driver was hijacked and forced to drive a ‘crude but viable’ explosive device in his vehicle to a police station in Lurgan.

The delivery driver was able to alert staff at the police station that there was a bomb in his car, and a controlled explosion was carried out to make it safe.

The PSNI have said it is “highly likely” that dissident republican groups were responsible for the attack.

Speaking on his way into Government Buildings in Dublin this morning, Taoiseach Micheál Martin condemned the incident and said he was “absolutely shocked” by it. 

“It’s depressing that that type of thinking is still prevalent,” the Taoiseach said. 

“There’s no room for it in our society,” he added.

Taoiseach comments on bomb driven to PSNI station in delivery driver’s boot. pic.twitter.com/7v5pVXr7pG

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Tánaiste Simon Harris described it as “deeply chilling”.

The incident has also been roundly condemned by political leaders in Northern Ireland.

Police said the attack was likely to have been a “sad and futile” bid by dissident republicans to “make themselves relevant” ahead of the anniversary of the Easter Rising.

The 1916 Rising is marked annually as one of the events leading to the independence of the Republic of Ireland from British rule in 1922.

The Tánaiste said Northern Ireland’s dark history needs to be left there.

“What we have seen in Lurgan is deeply chilling and deeply concerning, and I take very seriously what the PSNI say,” he told reporters on his way into Cabinet this morning.

“The dark history needs to be left just there, and it is a reminder of the fact that we can never ever let our guard down in relation to that.

“We have a peace process on the island of Ireland, an enduring one, an ongoing one, and this chilling event is deeply concerning.”

Earlier, Stormont Justice Minister Naomi Long said the Police Service of Northern Ireland take the ongoing risk from dissident republicans seriously.

She told BBC Radio Ulster’s Good Morning Ulster programme: “If they weren’t intent in causing harm, then they wouldn’t be in those groups, it’s the only purpose that they serve.

“From our perspective, we take it seriously. I know the PSNI work very hard to keep people safe, to suppress the activities of these organisations, and where they can do so, bring the people involved to justice.

“But we can’t be complacent about the risks.”

With reporting from Press Association.