A security alert sparked by the discovery of a suspicious object in east Belfast has been branded as a “sinister attempt to intimidate one of the most diverse GAA clubs on our island”.
The item was found on Sunday at the Henry Jones Playing Fields in Castlereagh, which is used by East Belfast GAA.
Police and ammunition technical officers were called to the scene at Church Road.
A PSNI spokesperson said the object was taken away for further examination and it was declared an “elaborate hoax”.
“The roads in the area have fully reopened,” they said on Sunday evening.
The club has been the target of several sectarian attacks since 2020.
In August last year police launched a hate crime probe after the club’s nets were set on fire and destroyed.
The pitches were also shut in September and May last year amid hoax bomb alerts.
The club became the first GAA club in the east of the city in almost 50 years when it was launched in May 2020.
It did not have its own grounds, so Belfast City Council reconfigured part of its Henry Jones Playing Fields site to accommodate the club’s training sessions.
The latest security alert has been described as an “attack on an entire community in the east of the city”.
SDLP councillor Séamas de Faoite said: “Make no mistake about it, this is a sinister attempt to intimidate one of the most diverse GAA clubs on our island and it’s an attack of the entire community in east Belfast who want to live in peace with their neighbours.
“It will not work and those behind it will not win.
“I know that this will only increase support for East Belfast GAA who continue to go from strength to strength”
Alliance MLA Peter McReynolds said he was “absolutely appalled” at those behind yet another security alert at the training ground.
“East Belfast GAA has garnered immense praise from our community, and rightly so,” he said.
“Their efforts to unite people through sports, fostering a better future in East Belfast, so everyone can live, work and play together in peace, is something to be celebrated and promoted.
“Yet the club has received a never-ending slew of threats and security alerts.
“Those behind security alerts like this are not interested in anything positive; instead, they are focused on creating division and destruction.”
Sinn Féin councillor Pádraig Donnelly also said the discovery was “deeply concerning”.
“This is the latest in a number of despicable attempts to intimidate children and adults playing sport on these pitches and to stop the growth of Gaelic games in this area.
“All political representatives and sporting organisations must stand together and make it clear there is no place for intimidation or attacks on anyone playing sport.”
