The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is believed to be behind a security alert which led to the Foreign Secretary being evacuated from a peace and reconciliation event in North Belfast.

Simon Coveney was addressing the event hosted by the John and Pat Hume Foundation when he was ushered out of the room.

The Houben Center on Crumlin Road was evacuated and a funeral service at nearby Holy Cross Church was also called off.

PSNI Deputy Chief Constable Mark McEwan said the driver of a van was threatened by two armed men and forced to drive a device he believed to be a live bomb to Holy Cross Church.

He condemned the “shameful actions” which caused the evacuation of more than 25 homes, the disruption of local schools and also funerals.

Speaking to the media at police headquarters on Friday evening, he said detectives believed loyalist paramilitaries were responsible and the UVF was the main line of inquiry.

“This morning between 9 and 10 a.m. a van was hijacked in Sydney Street West, off Shankill Road, Belfast,” he said.

“The driver of the van was threatened by two armed men and forced to drive his white Vauxhall van a short distance down another street and a device was then placed in the van.

“The victim was then forced to drive the van to the Sainte-Croix chapel.

“Think about it, the victim believed at that moment that he was driving a van containing a live bomb and that his family was under threat.

“The local community has also been affected. More than 25 homes were evacuated, local schools were affected and vulnerable residents of a local nursing home had to be moved to another part of their home.

“The most shameful thing is that a funeral that was taking place in the chapel was also interrupted, causing even more grief to this family.

“Tonight, after further examination, the device was declared a hoax. It was clearly designed to cause maximum disruption to the local community.

“At this early stage of the investigation, our assessment is that these crimes were perpetrated by loyalist paramilitary groups.

“We keep an open mind, but one of the main lines of investigation is the UVF.”

Mr McEwan also appealed for anyone with information about the event, the gunmen or the movements of the van to report to the police.

Mr Coveney was once the target of grim graffiti in a loyalist area of ​​Belfast.

Asked whether Mr Coveney had been the target of the incident, Mr McEwan said he would not speculate on the motivation at a very early stage of the investigation.

The incident was condemned by politicians.

Secretary of State Brandon Lewis called the actions “reprehensible”.

“Today’s incident at the Houben Center in North Belfast reminds us that there is a small minority willing to use violence to achieve their goals,” he said.

“My thoughts are with the driver who faced a terrifying ordeal, the family who were planning the funeral, as well as Simon Coveney and all those affected.

“These actions are reprehensible. I totally condemn those involved, thank and reiterate my full support for the PSNI and security partners and urge anyone with information to contact the police.

Earlier, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson had welcomed the widespread condemnation, adding that most people ‘want to get on with their lives and don’t have a truck with those who cling to violence’.

Sinn Fein Stormont leader Michelle O’Neill also condemned those involved, adding: ‘Those determined to cause instability and disruption will not succeed. Those of us who are committed to peace will not be discouraged.

The Archbishop of the Church of Ireland, the Reverend John McDowell, called the incident shameful.

“Peace and stability in Northern Ireland is maintained and advanced through good relations at all levels in Ireland and these islands, and there is no room for violence or the threat of violence in our society. “, did he declare.

Mr. Coveney was talking about the importance of reconciliation in Northern Ireland.

He told the event: “The patient work of reconciliation and deepening relationships must continue on our own island.”

A spokesperson for Mr Coveney said: ‘The Minister and team are safe, have been taken to a safe location and the PSNI are doing their job.’

In a tweet that followed, the foreign minister thanked the efforts of the PSNI.

“In Belfast with the Hume Foundation to honor John & Pat’s legacy of peace for all communities.

“Saddened and frustrated that someone has been attacked and victimized in this way and my thoughts are with him and his family.”

The foundation’s Tim Attwood told the PA news agency that the safety alert is a reminder “to everyone that there is no role in our society for violence”.

He added: ‘A suspicious device will not stop the work of the John and Pat Hume Foundation.

The local priest, Father Gary Donegan, also spoke at the event.

He told BBC Radio Ulster that Mr Coveney was about five minutes into the speech when he was interrupted.

“I saw the close protection team waving at me and I was wondering what they were asking me?

“They turned around and told me someone was hijacked at gunpoint and drove a van with a suspected device in the ground and we need to get the minister out of there and get the place.

“So immediately we had to remove the minister.”

He described the evacuation of the building, which he said was a “local community center”, and said a funeral had been called off by the evacuation.

“Whatever stupid people did what they did today, forget the event itself, but there’s a grieving family that didn’t even have a funeral.”

Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie called the incident “simply shocking”.

“At a time when most of the world stands together to oppose the brutal oppression of the Ukrainian people, it is simply shocking that a worker, going about his business driving a van for a living, is traumatized by terrorists who insist he is driving what he is told is a device in a parking lot,” he said.

“Apart from the irony that Mr. Coveney was speaking about the suffering in Ukraine as part of his reconciliation speech, a speech he may deliver again, a grieving family burying a loved one had to hold his funeral at the “outside, something that cannot be undone. Relatives were denied the right to pay their respects as scheduled.”

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood described it as a “worrying situation”.

He tweeted, “These stupid thugs will not stop the John and Pat Hume Foundation from carrying out their work to advance peace.”

Earlier this week, the terror threat level from dissident Republicans in Northern Ireland rose from serious to substantial for the first time in 12 years.

The assessment, announced by Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis but carried out independently by the MI5 security service, was welcomed by Mr Coveney when he appeared alongside Mr Lewis after a Conference meeting Anglo-Irish intergovernmental in Dublin.

Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Kyle tweeted: “This is appalling and deeply disturbing news.

“I had the privilege of meeting with the Hume Foundation last week, their work is based on reconciliation and is important.

“I hope Simon Coveney’s presentation resumes safely and soon.”