Doug Beattie: This cowardly gun attack is just like Troubles attacks

I utterly condemn last night's gun attack on the Crumlin Road in which a police officer was injured.

This action was the work of cowards and will not advance any cause but barbarism.

My thoughts are with the injured officer, their colleagues and family, and my prayers are for a full and speedy recovery.

This is precisely the type of incident which blighted the lives of the people of Northern Ireland through the 1970s, 1980s and much of the 1990s.

Earlier yesterday I warned that Gerry Adams’ comments made over the weekend in which he said Brexit will destroy the Belfast Agreement and could be viewed as a hostile act, invited the notion which could be exploited by some physical force republicans, that a hostile act could justifiably be countered by other hostile acts.

Gerry Adams must realise that words can have consequences and in Northern Ireland these consequences can be fatal.

Doug Beattie MC MLA, Ulster Unionist Party, Upper Bann

Morning View: Criticism of dissident terror is not enough – action to combat them must be supported