SF ard fheis may have been a factor in bus hijack says DUP MP as he appeals for ‘cool hearts & wise heads’

Jim Shannon, the DUP MP for Strangford – the constitutency where Monday morning’s bus hijack took place – believes that the Sinn Fein annual conference on Saturday may also have been a factor behind the incident.
By Adam Kula
Published 2nd Nov 2021, 04:00 BST
Updated 2nd Nov 2021, 15:19 BST
Pacemaker Press 01-11-2021: Police are appealing for information following the hijacking of a bus in the Abbot Drive area of Newtownards, Northern Ireland. At approximately 6.30am, two masked and armed men boarded the bus and poured fuel over the vehicle before setting it alight. The driver managed to get off the bus unharmed but has been left badly shaken by the incident. PSNI forensics pictured at the scene in Newtownards. Picture By:Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press.Pacemaker Press 01-11-2021: Police are appealing for information following the hijacking of a bus in the Abbot Drive area of Newtownards, Northern Ireland. At approximately 6.30am, two masked and armed men boarded the bus and poured fuel over the vehicle before setting it alight. The driver managed to get off the bus unharmed but has been left badly shaken by the incident. PSNI forensics pictured at the scene in Newtownards. Picture By:Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press.
Pacemaker Press 01-11-2021: Police are appealing for information following the hijacking of a bus in the Abbot Drive area of Newtownards, Northern Ireland. At approximately 6.30am, two masked and armed men boarded the bus and poured fuel over the vehicle before setting it alight. The driver managed to get off the bus unharmed but has been left badly shaken by the incident. PSNI forensics pictured at the scene in Newtownards. Picture By:Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press.

In the wake of the attack, the PSNI increased its visible patrol presence in some loyalist-dominated areas.

A source close to the Bowtown estate in east Newtownards, where the hijack took place, indicated that it is likely UVF men were behind the incident because of the influence which the group wields in that neighbourhood.

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Two days before, Sinn Fein had held its ard fheis in Dublin, during which Mary Lou McDonald set out her vision for becoming the dominant political force in both the Republic and NI.

Jim ShannonJim Shannon
Jim Shannon

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Based on talk “coming from the estate” Mr Shannon told the News Letter: “I think the NI Protocol is the primary factor. But certainly what I’m hearing is they were sick and annoyed about her comments.

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“They [SF] are so full of themselves. They think they’re going to be in charge north and south.

“I’ll tell you what – a day of reckoning is coming, boy.”

When it comes to loyalist anger at the post-Brexit situation, he added: “We’re at a very delicate point in negotiations in relation to the NI Protocol.

“Lord Frost’s saying the right things. We want to give him and the PM the chance to deliver and squash the NI Protocol which they’re saying they’re going to do.

“I think we’re going to see within two weeks is what I hear.”

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He believes those responsible for stealing and torching the bus were trying to send the following message: “This is upping the ante ... Do not underestimate our power to turn violence on if necessary.”

Put simply, he said: “It’s a time for wise heads and cool hearts.”

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