Pipe bomb found by eight year old girl at school in Ulster

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A primary school has been cordoned off in Antrim after a suspected pipe bomb was found by an eight-year-old pupil. Brendan Shannon, 8, from St Comgall's Primary School lifted what police have confirmed was a viable device and brought it into the classroom. Police were called and 400 children were moved from St Comgall's Primary School on the Ballymena Road to a nearby church hall. A second alert is under way at St Joseph's Primary School in Antrim. St Comgall's headteacher Hilary Cush said he was outraged. "It's absolutely crazy. It's unbelievable that innocent children should be caught up in something like this," he said. A search of St Joseph's at Greystone Road began at about 1030 BST. Pupils, including a nursery section, were moved to a nearby parish hall. PSNI Chief Inspector Simon Walls area commander for the district has condemned those responsible for the alerts. "I cannot express enough my disgust at the cowards involved in these alerts today. "To target the general public is never acceptable by any means but to take away the secure feelings of innocent children and to put them at risk like this is beyond despicable. "It is by sheer good fortune that we are not dealing with a severely injured child right now." The Ballymena Road has been partially closed. SDLP South Antrim MLA Thomas Burns condemned the incident. "There is obviously a group which is determined to cause mayhem in our town with these regular pipe bomb incidents, and until we know otherwise, we have to operate on the basis that they are prepared to cause murder as well. "This is an attack on our whole community and the whole community must respond by working with our community policing service."