LAST UPDATE | 27 Mar 2022

POLICE IN NORTHERN Ireland have arrested a man and a woman as part of the investigation into the hijacking of a van in north Belfast on Friday.

The 38-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm in suspicious circumstances, possessing criminal property and concealing criminal property.

She is currently in custody assisting police with their enquiries.

Detectives investigating the security alert also arrested a 41-year-old man under the Terrorism Act. The man is being questioned in Musgrave Serious Crime Suite.

On Friday morning, Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney was giving a talk at the Hume Foundation in north Belfast when he was abruptly evacuated due to a security alert.

Assistant Chief Constable Mark McEwan said that two gunmen hijacked a white Vauxhall van in the Shankill area of the city between 9 and 10am and threatened the driver.

The driver was forced to drive the van to another street, where a device was placed in the van, and then forced to drive the van to Holy Cross Church in Belfast where the event was taking place.

Since then, police conducted searches in the Ballysillan and Springmartin areas of north and west Belfast on Saturday evening.

They recovered several items, including a suspected firearm, two vehicles, a quantity of controlled drugs and a large sum of cash, as well as two arrests.

Enquiries into the incident are ongoing. 

Anyone with any information that could assist with the investigation is asked to call detectives on the non-emergency number 101 or submit a report online using the non-emergency reporting form or to contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online.