The deadly device thrown through the window of Mary People’s bedroom window
THE IRSP in Strabane say a pipe murder bid on the home of a pensioner was linked to a drunken row between her son and dissident republicans.
Ryan Peoples was visiting his 65-year-old mother at her Melmount Villas home on Sunday evening when dissident republicans struck.
Mary Peoples was lying in bed when the viable pipe bomb was hurled through the window, striking a wall beside her bed.
She described those behind the attack as “scumbags”, adding: “This could have been murder.”
Police have launched a murder bid inquiry and have appealed for witnesses or anyone with information to come forward.
The IRSP in Strabane described the attack and those who carried it out as “mindless” saying “their actions have disgraced the sacrifice made by Strabane republicans who gave their lives and freedom in the struggle against imperialist occupation”.
In a statement, local IRSP representative Michael McLaughlin said that it was “fortunate” for Mrs Peoples that device didn’t explode as the fused on the pipe bomb had “fizzled out”.
“It landed on the bed of a woman suffering from years of arthritis. The attacked family was able to take the crude viable device to a nearby field. Their only “crime” was a family member had been in a drunken fist fight in a local pub a week earlier.
“Clearly this attack stems from bruised egos and childish perceptions of control over the community. These people need to desist.”
Mary People’s bungalow at Melmount Villas which was attacked with a pipe bomb at the weekend
“The questions needs asked. Are contemporary armed groups in Strabane becoming oppressors of working class communities? Whose agenda is this serving?”
“Working class housing estates in Strabane found themselves at the “coal face” of hardship during the worst years of British occupation.
“Strabane suffered more than most, a legacy of agony still remains which permeates every facet of existence in the town.”
Mr McLaughlin’s statement concluded: “So called republicans in Strabane are taking up the mantle from the British army and a sectarian police force in oppressing working class areas, not defending them.
“These are our working class areas that have been subjected to the cruel whip of neoliberalism.Working class areas dealing with high poverty rates and deprivation. With low life expectancy and joblessness.”
“The IRSP position is that the only agenda being served by these actions is an anti-working class one.
“These actions play into the hands of those who would wish to criminalise the struggle for Irish unity.
!This is the second time in less than four weeks in which civilians have been targeted in pipe bombings by this group of individuals.”
The IRSP has called on those responsible to “desist from this type of activity immediately as the anger within the working class should not be underestimate”.
The scene around Mary People’s home cordoned off for a forensic examaination