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Damage to a car in the driveway of Adams' home following the attack. PA Images

Man arrested after explosive attack on Gerry Adams' home

The man is being held on suspicion of criminal damage.

POLICE IN NORTHERN Ireland have arrested a man in connection with attacks on the homes of Sinn Féin’s Gerry Adams and Bobby Storey.

The incidents happened on Friday night with CCTV footage from Adams’ west Belfast home showing an explosive device being thrown at a car in the driveway and detonating.

Adams spoke to the media on Saturday morning following the incident and said his grandchildren had been playing in the driveway shortly before the attack.

No one was injured in the incident.

In a statement last night, the PSNI said that detectives investigating two incidents in west Belfast on Friday 13 July have arrested a 35-year-old man on suspicion of offences, including criminal damage.

The man was arrested last night and he remains in custody where he is being questioned by police.

The PSNI said it also conducted a number of searches in the west Belfast area last night.

Following the incident on Friday, Adams said that he didn’t know who was behind the attack on his home but that he wanted to meet them so they could “explain what it was all about”.

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    Mute Ennui Kenny
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    Jul 18th 2018, 8:23 AM

    I see people are already trying to minimize this attack on a sitting member of our Dail by claiming that the explosive device was a “Banger” and that somehow makes it less of incident than it is. Ask yourself this question, If this so called “banger” can do that much damage to a reinforced windscreen, how much damage would it have done to the arms, legs or eyes of Gerry Adams grandchildren?

    BTW I’m still waiting for Leo, M Martin, Howlin et al to condemn the attack. If it happened to one of them or any other TD other that a SF one they would be up in arms over it. Hypocrisy amongst them and their supporters at it’s best.

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    Mute CrabaRev
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    Jul 18th 2018, 8:37 AM

    @Ennui Kenny: It was a firework. A dangerous act of vandalism. Its amazing the way the provo posters have to bring Adam’s grandchildren into it to create some element horror and emotion. It was a firework thrown at Gerry Adam’s car. Nothing more.

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    Mute Ennui Kenny
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    Jul 18th 2018, 8:44 AM

    @CrabaRev: You’d probably be the first one on here bawling your eyes out and whining if the same attack was carried out against a party leader or TD in the Republic yet here you are doing exactly what I said in my comment! As for bringing the grandchildren into it, well I’m sure their parents are sorry for allowing their children to play in their front garden and inconveniently being in the area when dissident terrorists lob explosive devices in to the area. How thoughtless of the parents to have their children get in the way of people trying to intimidate and terrorize people.

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    Mute Gus Sheridan
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    Jul 18th 2018, 8:45 AM

    @CrabaRev: shows how much you understand about industrial fireworks, not a “banger” that some FG trolls here would have you believe. For the record I don’t trust Adams as far as I could throw him but to downplay this attack is wrong.

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    Mute King Billy
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    Jul 18th 2018, 9:10 AM

    @Ennui Kenny: Is the Baron suffering from PTSD … over a banger PMSL

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    Mute Mr Phil Officer
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    Jul 18th 2018, 9:29 AM

    @Ennui Kenny: remember when white powder and a swastika flag were sent to Shatter’s house or when AK received alleged death threats during the water protests, the media and Irish politicians never shut up about it.

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    Mute King Billy
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    Jul 18th 2018, 9:38 AM

    @Mr Phil Officer: I surprised they didnt evacuate the whole of belfast over the tiny little banger :D

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    Mute Christy Nolan
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    Jul 18th 2018, 10:01 AM

    @CrabaRev: did the same firework attack the other innocent person

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    Mute Mr Phil Officer
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    Jul 18th 2018, 10:03 AM

    @King Billy: welcome back gilhooley, missed taking the p1ss out of you.

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    Mute CrabaRev
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    Jul 18th 2018, 10:10 AM

    @Ennui Kennny:
    The point is there were no children playing in the yard when the device was thrown. It was a dangerous act of vandalism. The provo posters are trying to make it something it wasn’t. Mentioning his grandchildren and referring to industrial fireworks.
    Your remarks about me bawling over an attack on a TD are a bit childish. Are you an adult?

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    Mute Joseph Dempsey
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    Jul 18th 2018, 10:24 AM

    @Ennui Kenny: sitting Member of the Dail, living in Belfast? Come off it , I don’t agree with what happened albeit I suspect a slight over exaggeration, Grand children playing outside after dark and on the 13th July ?

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    Mute Roy Dowling
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    Jul 18th 2018, 10:37 AM

    @Ennui Kenny: Why had Gerry Adams got a reinforced windscreen on his car?

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    Mute Ennui Kenny
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    Jul 18th 2018, 10:41 AM

    @Joseph Dempsey: As I have posted already during this week and last week Adams has a home in Louth as well as Belfast so what’s your point? We also have a member of the Unionist community recently elected to the Seanad who I believe lives Markethill, Co Armagh in NI. Should he be made move his place of residence to the Republic?

    As for your comment “Grand children playing outside after dark and on the 13th July ?”, what is wrong with children playing in their own front garden on July 13th? Should they only be allowed play there on certain dates and times. Are you proposing a curfew for children in NI? A bit of clarification would be nice.

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    Mute Ennui Kenny
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    Jul 18th 2018, 10:43 AM

    @Roy Dowling:
    1. I don’t know if that was Adam’s car.
    2. Why do you think? (Take this attack into consideration when going through your thought process.
    3. Why don’t you ask him as he would probably answer the question better than I would but I think that you already know the answer anyway.

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    Mute King Billy
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    Jul 18th 2018, 10:46 AM

    SF/IRA afriad of a banger, you couldn’t make it up PMSL

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    Mute Walt Jabsco
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    Jul 18th 2018, 10:54 AM

    @Ennui Kenny:
    Whoever did this is an idiotic moron and nobody deserves to have that done to them, but your faux outrage is a bit OTT, after all Adams’s former outfit are used to using considerably bigger bangers.

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    Mute Ennui Kenny
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    Jul 18th 2018, 10:59 AM

    @CrabaRev: So let me see if I have this correct. Because there were no children in the area this is just a “dangerous act of vandalism” so that’s alright then. I’m sure that the thugs that did this drive up and down the street repeatedly in the hours beforehand to make sure that it was clear of children playing. They did this in a community that is hyper vigilant to any strange car or person in the vicinity. After all dissident republicans take health and saftey very seriously when throwing explosive devices into areas where children might be playing.

    As for your hurt feelings in my pointing out that you would be bawling your eyes out if the same attack happened to any other TD well I obviously hit a nerve (or the truth) there. Take a moment to get a hankie, dry your eyes and blow your nose, you will feel a lot better. Did you look up the definition of terrorism like I asked you to the other day because you are still spouting the same waffle that this was just a “dangerous act of vandalism”. Maybe you don’t have the ability or resources to look it up so here is the definition. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definitions_of_terrorism
    “It is the use of violence or threat of violence in the pursuit of political, religious, ideological or social objectives.”
    Dissident republicans= political objectives.
    Explosive device detonated= violence.

    If you still don’t understand that, ask a big person to explain it to you in simpler terms.

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    Mute Ennui Kenny
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    Jul 18th 2018, 11:19 AM

    @Walt Jabsco: Faux outrage? If the same thing happened to Micheal Martins grandchildren and I wrote the same comments would you accuse me of “faux outrage”? Does the fact that these children are related to Gerry Adams mean that people shouldn’t be outraged at this act and we should just brush it aside?As for Adams former outfit and their activities they did indeed use considerably bigger bangers as you put it however that was 20 years ago at the very least! These children weren’t even born then so how are you in some way trying to justify this attack with something that happened 20, 30, 40 years? These children have been born into and are growing up in a peaceful NI compared to 20 years ago yet when violence is visited upon them you have people on here trying to minimize it, excuse it and ignore it. It only takes one shot to start a war and if you ignore it and the violence in Derry over the last few weeks the whole cycle of violence starts all over again.

    It’s all fine for dissidents to be doing this to Adams and other republicans according the mainly southern commentators on here but what will their response be when the dissidents carry out the same attack on a member of the Unionist/Loyalist community and actually do kill or maim a child? The whole conflict could kick off again with a new generation involved as we have see with small children involved in the disturbances in Derry. If you have a problem with me being outraged at that prospect then so be it but but I make no apologies for not wanting another 40 years of violence to start all over again because of complacency.

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    Mute Ennui Kenny
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    Jul 18th 2018, 11:21 AM

    @Mr Phil Officer: It’s gas isn’t it? Brand new account, same old syntax and expressions, same old troll.

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    Mute Joseph Dempsey
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    Jul 18th 2018, 11:29 AM

    @Ennui Kenny: absolutely, any other Parliament would require it’s elected representatives to Live in the state, the house in Louth was nothing more than a smoke screen to get the seat, I can predict the removal team have already started seen has he’s announced retirement, do you seriously think Adams have a S&£T about Louth?

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    Mute King Billy
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    Jul 18th 2018, 11:30 AM

    @Joseph Dempsey: does the baron even know where louth is LOL

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    Mute Joseph Dempsey
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    Jul 18th 2018, 12:08 PM

    @King Billy: Lol

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    Mute Ennui Kenny
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    Jul 18th 2018, 12:11 PM

    @Joseph Dempsey: If he has announced his retirement then why do you have a problem with him buying or owning a house in Belfast which is where I presume is where he will retire to? This Dail will probably only last another 12 months at most so do you want him to wait until the to plan his retirement?

    As for your comment that “any other Parliament would require it’s elected representatives to Live in the state” shows the small minded thinking of southerners. NI has a population of about 1.9 million people, half of whom see themselves as Irish not British yet people in the south smugly deny them this identity. Up to 20 years ago we claimed the whole of Ireland as our own so if Adams bought the house then was he not living in territory that we claimed as ours? I don’t know when he bought it or why but I’m sure that his constituents don’t care where he lives so long as he is doing his job properly and considering that he has been elected consistently with huge majority I’m fairly confident that his voters don’t care where he lives.

    If you are that worried about where TD’s live then maybe you should ask other TD’s if they live in their constituencies especially in Dublin. I think that you will find that there are quite a few that are parachuted into areas for political purposes even though they live nowhere near the area.

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    Mute Walt Jabsco
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    Jul 18th 2018, 12:12 PM

    @Ennui Kenny:
    Your faux outrage comes in the form of:
    1) Continually referring to grandchildren (appeal to emotion) despite the fact that they were nowhere near at the time.
    2) Talking about “dissident terrorists lobbing explosive devices” – from that description anyone would think it was a serious attempt on Adams’s life by throwing a grenade etc. through the living room window.

    At the end of the day this was a complete moron throwing a banger and vandalising someone’s car. On the scale of terrorist atrocities this barely makes it onto the bottom end, and no amount of faux outrage will change that.
    ps. I hope this idiot is dealt with appropriately in the courts.

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    Mute Walt Jabsco
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    Jul 18th 2018, 12:14 PM

    Oh and by the way, regardless of who was targeted in this I would say you were engaging in faux outrage to have exaggerated it in the way you have.

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    Mute Joe Burke
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    Jul 18th 2018, 12:52 PM

    @Ennui Kenny: lord Mountbatten grandson and friend were not so lucky from the psychos of the ra

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    Mute Ennui Kenny
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    Jul 18th 2018, 1:28 PM

    @Joe Burke: The 3 Quinn brothers who burnt to death in a firebomb attack by Loyalists were also not so lucky so what’s your point in relation to this incident?

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    Mute Ennui Kenny
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    Jul 18th 2018, 1:35 PM

    @Walt Jabsco: Do you deny that Adams grandchildren were in the area moments before? Do you deny that an explosive device was thrown into the area? Do you deny that this was an act of intimidation?

    Listen, I couldn’t give a monkeys if you don’t care if children were hurt or not or if you try to minimise the incident because they are the children of republicans that’s for your own morals and ethics. I will be interested though to see your reaction when dissidents actually do kill or main a child or children by their actions (and they will) and see what you have to say then assuming of course that their parents aren’t republicans.

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    Mute CrabaRev
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    Jul 18th 2018, 2:14 PM

    @Ennui Kenny:
    ” So let me see if I have this correct. Because there were no children in the area this is just a “dangerous act of vandalism” so that’s alright then.”
    You don’t have it correct. No one said it was alright. It was a dangerous act of vandalism, because that’s what throwing a firework at a car is. Thanks for confirming that there were no children playing in the area that remove that spurious argument from the conversation.
    Do you think that anyone caught speeding should be charged with attempted murder because they could have run over a child. Your argument is just as stupid

    I notice you mention those Quinn boys. Last week you Sinn Fein colleague Tir Eoighan Gael mentioned them also. Is your exploitation of children’s deaths in an effort to gain sympathy a new part of your media strategy? You Sinn Fein guys are really pathetic.

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    Mute Walt Jabsco
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    Jul 18th 2018, 3:30 PM

    @Ennui Kenny:

    “Do you deny that Adams grandchildren were in the area moments before? Do you deny that an explosive device was thrown into the area? Do you deny that this was an act of intimidation?”
    No, where have you seen me deny any of that?

    “Listen, I couldn’t give a monkeys if you don’t care if children were hurt or not or if you try to minimise the incident because they are the children of republicans that’s for your own morals and ethics.”
    Please point out where I said I don’t care if children were hurt or whether that would depend on which side of the divide they were from.

    “I will be interested though to see your reaction when dissidents actually do kill or main a child or children by their actions (and they will) and see what you have to say then assuming of course that their parents aren’t republicans.”
    I will be as disgusted as any right-minded person if and when dissidents of whatever persuasion actually do kill or maim a child. What makes you think I would think any other way?

    It seems you want to respond to what you would like me to have said as opposed to what I actually said.
    At the end of the day this was a stupid and senseless attack that no right-minded person could condone, but nobody was hurt and as attacks go it was pretty petty, with minimal damage, and at the absolute bottom end of the scale, so yes, spare us your attempts to blow it out of all proportion, which is the very definition of faux outrage.

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    Mute Murf
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    Jul 20th 2018, 11:44 AM

    @CrabaRev: How do you know??? Were you there?

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    Mute Dreyfus
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    Jul 18th 2018, 8:21 AM

    double standards journal.ie. Always have closed comments on criminal proceedings (whatever the jurisdiction) yet they’re open today when Gerry Adams is involved !?

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    Mute Clifford Brennan
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    Jul 18th 2018, 8:52 AM

    @Dreyfus:A tuy has only been arrested, not charged. Calm down.

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    Mute Clifford Brennan
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    Jul 18th 2018, 8:52 AM

    @Clifford Brennan: *guy

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    Mute Hardly Normal
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    Jul 18th 2018, 9:05 AM

    @Clifford Brennan: ah ya but if it was Joan Burton it wouldn’t be open for discussion.

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    Mute King Billy
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    Jul 18th 2018, 9:12 AM

    @Dreyfus: Sure Baron Adams is for laughing at, whats the problem :D

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    Mute Hardly Normal
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    Jul 18th 2018, 7:55 AM

    Nutjob, who ever did it. No one deserves something like that no matter what you think of them!

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    Mute Ian Breathnach
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    Jul 18th 2018, 7:59 AM

    @Hardly Normal: Not justifying anything but it was a banger. “Explosive device” is nothing short of sensationalistic. I get that what it was cannot be proven but this was hardly a bomb that was designed to injure or maim.

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    Mute Barry Somers
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    Jul 18th 2018, 8:09 AM

    @Ian Breathnach: even if that’s true, bangers can still injure people.

    Don’t believe me? Hold one in your hand and see how things work out for you.

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    Mute Conor Paddington
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    Jul 18th 2018, 8:15 AM

    @Barry Somers: I mean, he didn’t trick Gerry into holding it in his hand though, did he?

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    Mute Paul Murphy
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    Jul 18th 2018, 8:23 AM

    @Ian Breathnach: it was an industrial firework and highly explosive… I’ve seen the damage this kind of thing can do to someone’s hand, look at what it did to the car window above l… Palestine use less powerful fireworks all the time, thrown in coke bottles and the international community seem to support Israel murdering them in retaliation, saying they were ‘rockets’ or ‘misiles’… I’m not here in defense of Gerry, but it’s better to look for the details rather than making blanket statements based on sparse ‘facts’

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    Mute Barry Somers
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    Jul 18th 2018, 8:30 AM

    @Conor Paddington: you don’t think a child might pickup such a thing or get too close to it?

    You’re downplaying something that could have seriously injured a child

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    Mute CrabaRev
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    Jul 18th 2018, 8:32 AM

    @Paul Murphy: Whats an “industrial firework”? Is it like a firework. It damaged the windscreen of a car. Lets get real.

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    Mute Gus Sheridan
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    Jul 18th 2018, 8:39 AM

    @Barry Somers: large fireworks have killed people at displays

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    Mute Conor Paddington
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    Jul 18th 2018, 8:39 AM

    @Barry Somers: I’m not down playing anything, and I don’t condone even throwing a pebble at somebody’s house. And Halloween is an incredibly dangerous part of a year… incredibly dangerous!! And I don’t even know that this was “just a banger” or whatever…

    But, if it was, there’s a difference between throwing a banger at somebody and throwing it at their car in the middle of the night when they’re nowhere near. And were there loads of children around? Because if there were, then this is shockingly irresponsible. But, if there weren’t, these things have like a 20 second fuse. You’d have to be incredibly unlucky in the esrly hours of the morning to throw a banger at a house wih no young children in it, and in the, say, 10 seconds o it lying there lit, for a child to run out and grab it.

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    Mute Gus Sheridan
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    Jul 18th 2018, 8:42 AM

    @CrabaRev: an industrial firework is used by licensed companies in public displays. The fireworks you see on the Thames at New Years Eve are industrial and not on sale to the general public.

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    Mute Hardly Normal
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    Jul 18th 2018, 9:03 AM

    @Ian Breathnach: that may be but the threat was still there. I would have thought we’d have moved on from that kind of behaviour..

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    Mute King Billy
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    Jul 18th 2018, 9:11 AM

    This is hilarious, a little banger and SF/IRA start crying, I hope the baron recovers from his ordeal :D

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    Mute Walt Jabsco
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    Jul 18th 2018, 10:46 AM

    @Paul Murphy:
    If you want everything to be fact-based, where’s your evidence that this was an ‘industrial firework’ (whatever that means)?

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    Mute Ian Breathnach
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    Jul 19th 2018, 8:43 AM

    @Paul Murphy: hahaha industrial firework. Teenagers in city have been at this carry on for years are you really comparing them to Palestinians? It was a banger. In my line of I’ve seen the effects of such things, I went off on the wiper/windscreen and it broken. If it were an “industrial” banger there would be no windscreen left. Professional fireworks can’t be just lit from a driving car either and these morons wouldn’t be able to get there hands on such for that matter.

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    Mute Ian Breathnach
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    Jul 19th 2018, 8:47 AM

    @Barry Somers: It was thrown at his car. There was no one around, have you actually looked at the footage? At no point did I say they couldn’t injure some one. Actually your right I apologise, All Hail King Gerry the true leader of the Free State!

    Only the fact this is Gerry Adam’s house it wouldn’t even get a paragraph in the media. This happens every other day in the city teenagers acting the maggot. At no point do I condone the actions but let’s be realistic here.

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    Mute Seriously stunned
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    Jul 18th 2018, 8:38 AM

    Kneecaps at the ready.

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    Mute Reuben Gray
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    Jul 18th 2018, 9:04 AM

    Arrested or turned himself in? The fact that “Gerry wants to talk to him” was probably on his mind.

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    Mute King Billy
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    Jul 18th 2018, 9:13 AM

    @Reuben Gray: Probably will join the disappeared now, cause poor gorry gets sensitive over a banger

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    Mute King Billy
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    Jul 18th 2018, 11:31 AM

    Baron Adams #survivor LOL

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    Mute Larry Doherty
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    Jul 18th 2018, 1:24 PM

    Am sure a few ar$e holes will have something to say here.

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