DISASTER AVERTED

The train was hijacked by a gang of nationalist youths at Lake Street as thousands of Orangemen celebrated the County Armagh Twelfth in the town centre.

The quick thinking actions of community activists thwarted attempts to set fire to the Enterprise train and saved the 54 passengers who were on board.

Meanwhile two people were arrested after police came under attack at north Lurgan with stones and petrol bombs.

Despite having to deal with one or two "unsavoury" incidents, Chief Inspector Jason Murphy described the day as a success from a policing perspective.

Mr Murphy explained the PSNI's approach to policing the Twelfth in Lurgan: "We tried to have a presence in that area of town (north Lurgan) but not overdo it," he said.

"We also had to have a police presence at the parade in the town centre.

"The parade in the town passed off without incident. Two arrests were made in north Lurgan - one person was arrested for throwing petrol bombs and another for damaging the lights at Lake Street crossing. It was important that we made those arrests."

The Chief Inspector said: "Apart from what was happening in north Lurgan the day was an absolute success from a policing perspective.

"We need to keep the whole thing in perspective. Obviously the train incident and the petrol bombs were unsavoury but when you look at what could have gone wrong, we managed extremely well. We had a strategy in place and the strategy worked well."

Mr Murphy described the nature of the violence in north Lurgan, which started around 4.30pm: "They came down from north Lurgan and attacked officers at the Antrim Road entrance to the park," he said.

"We pushed them back into Lake Street where stones and petrol bombs were thrown. It wasn't massively hot and heavy. It was sporadic violence rather than sustained. No officers were injured or vehicles damaged."

Sinn Fin MLA John O’Dowd congratulated the community activists who helped avert what could have been a major tragedy on the train at Lake Street.

Mr O’Dowd said: “The quick and prompt actions of local community activists saved not only the train passengers but the people living in the vicinity of the Lake Street rail crossing from what could have been a major disaster.

He added: “Those individuals who were behind this hijacking showed a total lack of concern for the safety of either the train passengers or the local community. Had they been successful in setting fire to this engine and carriages with the passengers still on board the outcome would have been tragic and had the train caught fire the potential of the fuel tanks rupturing and pouring hundreds of gallons of flaming diesel into surrounding houses is unthinkable.”

Ulster Unionist MLA Sam Gardiner said the behaviour of those attending the Twelfth celebrations in Lurgan was in stark constrast to those who hijacked the train at Lake Street.

Mr Gardiner said: "The incident with the train is particularly disturbing. In the last year alone disruption to the rail line has cost 220,000. This latest incident raises the threat to a new level. It's very lucky the train got away."

He added: "Lake Street is a weak point. The problem is that it takes very few people to cause major disruption."

The MLA went on to say he was proud of the way the town hosted the County Armagh celebrations.

"The parade showed how common sense prevails. It was a huge success and a wonderful day. It contrasted with the incident at the rail line where a few mindless people can cause major disruption."

Mayor of Craigavon Stephen Moutray has condemned as “utterly reckless and potentially fatal” the violence in Lurgan on Monday. Condemning those involved the DUP man said: “This wave of violence needs to be condemned by all political and civic representatives.

"To try to hijack and burn a train had the potential for fatalities and for an entire community to be severely disrupted. Coupled with the outbreaks of violence throughout the day it was a blow to tourism and to jobs and investment in Lurgan.”

He added: “Despite what they may claim, those responsible have nothing to offer to society and certainly are no friends of the nationalist/republican population. We need arrests and tough sentences for those who are involved in this type of utterly reckless and potentially fatal activity."