The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) reported that bomb-like devices were found at the homes of Gerry Adams and Bobby Storey, two prominent
The attacks came after six successive nights of violence in Derry and other areas in the North of Ireland, marking the Twelfth of July celebrations by the Orange Order and other unionist and loyalist groups.
These are commemorations of the victory of King William of Orange over Irish Catholics at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. Every year this occasion leads to marches through predominantly Catholic neighborhoods along with the igniting of huge bonfires which have usually had effigies of Irish republican figures.
Over the years the Twelfth “celebrations” have led to riots and numerous injuries along with several deaths. In 1998 the Quinn brothers, aged 9, 10, and 11, were killed by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) in a firebomb on their home in Ballymoney, County Antrim.
The PSNI blamed the attack on the Adams and Storey homes on dissident republicans that oppose Sinn Féin’s involvement in the peace process. Adams called on the perpetrators to meet him and explain why they did it.