Sinn Fein vice-president Martin McGuinness has condemned the dissidents responsible for a bomb intercepted by police close to the venue for the G8 summit.
McGuinness and DUP politician Arlene Foster have both criticised those responsible after the bomb was found and made safe in a car in Fermanagh.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland believe the device was destined for a local police station and was intended to kill their colleagues.
The bomb was discovered outside Enniskillen and not far from the Lough Erne hotel which will host President Barack Obama and other world leaders at the G8 summit in June.
German chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian premier Vladimir Putin are also expected to attend the summit in Fermanagh.
Deputy First Minister McGuinness tweeted: “I unreservedly condemn the anti-peace extremists behind bomb. Peace process is stronger than they are. No going back.”
Dissident Republicans are the prime suspects as police investigate the attempted bombing.
Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers said: “The abandoned device dealt with by PSNI sadly reminds us that there are still a small minority who are determined to damage communities and cause death and disruption.
“Those responsible for it have neither mandate nor legitimacy; they are totally out of touch with what the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland want.
“Acts like this only serve to strengthen our resolve against those terrorists who have nothing to offer Northern Ireland except mayhem and destruction.”
Stormont deputy Foster told the Belfast Telegraph that those responsible were intent on taking life but had to abandon transport of the bomb.
She said: “Had this bomb been detonated in that locality there would have been carnage.
“When we look at the number of failed terrorist attempts across the province, it is clear that the police are being successful both at gathering intelligence and also at putting that knowledge to use.”
PSNI district commander Pauline Shields said: “The people responsible for this have no regard for the lives of anyone in our community. It is fortunate that no-one was killed or seriously injured as a result of this reckless act.”
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