← Back to House of Commons Debates
Dunmurry Police Station Attack
27 April 2026
Lead MP
Hilary Benn
Debate Type
Ministerial Statement
Tags
Northern Ireland
Other Contributors: 18
At a Glance
Hilary Benn raised concerns about dunmurry police station attack in the House of Commons. A government minister responded. Other MPs also contributed.
How the Debate Unfolded
MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said:
Government Statement
The Minister condemned recent terrorist attacks targeting the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), including an attempted bombing at Dunmurry police station on April 25 and a similar incident in Lurgan on March 30. The PSNI's bravery was acknowledged, as were their efforts to ensure public safety despite the threats. The Minister emphasised that these attacks are carried out by individuals with no support from the community and vowed continued government support for the PSNI.
Sorcha Eastwood
SDLP
Lagan Valley
Question
Shadow expressed concern about the adequate resourcing of PSNI to tackle various forms of terrorism. She requested a commitment from the Government for proper funding, given that PSNI operates within a challenging budget.
Minister reply
The Minister acknowledged the importance of resource allocation and stated that the government has provided an additional £130 million in security funding over three years. The level of funding per head is consistent with Home Office counter-terrorism policing grants.
Tonia Antoniazzi
Lab
Gower
Question
MP expressed concern about those responsible for the attacks and questioned if they should face full legal consequences.
Minister reply
The Minister agreed that perpetrators must face justice. He highlighted recent convictions and steps taken to combat terrorism, including financial sanctions against individuals associated with the New IRA.
Alex Burghart
Con
Brentwood and Ongar
Question
MP praised PSNI for their bravery and enquired about resources available for future investigations. He also raised concerns about additional financial burdens due to the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill.
Minister reply
The Minister acknowledged the commitment of PSNI and noted ongoing efforts to combat terrorism, including recent convictions. He assured that enforcement of laws remains a police responsibility.
Colum Eastwood
SDLP
Belfast South
Question
The people who planted this bomb in Dunmurry have set their faces against the people of Ireland, who made the decision long ago that the only route to constitutional change is a democratic one. Will the Secretary of State confirm that the only way for achieving a united Ireland is through the Good Friday agreement?
Minister reply
The Good Friday agreement charted a peaceful means by which those seeking constitutional change can pursue it, but violence was never justified and there was always an alternative to it.
Paul Kohler
DUP
North Antrim
Question
What additional actions is the Secretary of State taking to ensure that the PSNI has adequate funding and resources to respond to the threat posed by dissident republican groups?
Minister reply
The budget of the PSNI is determined by the Northern Ireland Executive. The Government is providing a record settlement, increasing additional security funding for the first time in a decade, and Barnetting the Home Office counter-terrorism grant across to the Executive.
Katrina Murray
DUP
East Londonderry
Question
Would the Secretary of State work with the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure that nobody should be going to work and not coming home, given the unique challenges faced by staff and police officers in the PSNI?
Minister reply
The reduction in the number of bombings and shootings in the past decade is testament to the efforts of the police and security partners. The threat assessment currently remains substantial.
Jim Allister
TUV
North Antrim
Question
What will be done to snuff out this terrorist threat, including dealing with underfunding and understaffing of the PSNI? Does the Secretary of State agree that political parties need to give unconditional support to the PSNI?
Minister reply
All political leaders have a responsibility to encourage full-hearted support for the PSNI. The condemnation of terrorism is seen across Northern Ireland, including from Sinn Féin.
Andrew Murrison
Con
South West Wiltshire
Question
Does the Secretary of State agree with Chief Constable Jon Boutcher that the PSNI is not funded like other forces due to legacy issues made acute by the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill?
Minister reply
The establishment of the legacy commission will enable families seeking answers about how their loved ones died, and the Government aims to win confidence in all communities so this body can function.
Sammy Wilson
DUP
East Antrim
Question
Does the Secretary of State agree that Sinn Féin’s schizophrenic attitude towards past terrorism and present terrorism is perpetuating violence in society, and will he call on them to make it clear that terrorism has no place?
Minister reply
All politicians have a responsibility to encourage support for the work of the PSNI. The condemnation of terrorism is seen across Northern Ireland, including from Sinn Féin.
Julian Lewis
Con
New Forest East
Question
Is the Secretary of State liaising closely with people in the Republic of Ireland regarding support for discovering and preventing a new version of terrorism?
Minister reply
The condemnation of terrorism is seen right across Ireland, including in the Republic. These people have no support whatsoever, and it is important to hold them accountable.
Josh Babarinde
Lab
Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland
Question
What assessment has been made of the threat that dissident republicans pose to the British mainland?
Minister reply
The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre assesses the nature of the threat, which is currently substantial. JTAC’s staff take their job extremely seriously and any information about threats is circulated.
Katie Lam
Lab
Coventry South
Question
We can all agree that the public should be protected from anybody who is willing to use violence against innocents and the police to get what they want, but I wonder how the right hon. Gentleman intends to enforce that. What message does he think it sends to those who have had the courage to protect the public, including British soldiers during the troubles, when this Government are making it easier for them to be dragged through the courts decades later?
Minister reply
I do not accept the hon. Member’s characterisation of what is in the troubles Bill that we will be discussing later, because the threshold consideration for prosecutions remains absolutely unchanged in the legislation currently before the House. However, I recognise that veterans are concerned about the impact that any changes may have on them. That is why the Government have put protections in the Bill and will bring forward further such proposals in Committee.
Robin Swann
Alliance
Fermanagh and South Tyrone
Question
What price does the Secretary of State put on a Northern Ireland life? What price does he put on the lives of PSNI officers, whom we have praised in this House today for saving so many lives at the weekend? The majority of his answers at the start of this session referred to Barnett consequentials and budgets, not the people who went out of their way to save lives. Why do he and this Government believe that if terrorists in Northern Ireland are attacking Northern Ireland people, it is only a Northern Ireland problem?
Minister reply
Well, I do not accept that I said that it is only a Northern Ireland problem. The reason I answered questions relating to the funding is because I was asked by hon. and right hon. Members about the funding that the Government make available to the Executive in Northern Ireland, out of which the Executive take decisions about the funding of the PSNI. That is their responsibility. I simply say to the hon. Member that the lives of everyone in Northern Ireland—be they police officer or ordinary citizen—are beyond price.
Lincoln Jopp
Con
Spelthorne
Question
It is hard to believe that it was 34 years ago that one of these proxy bombs was driven into my checkpoint in west Belfast. I remember it like it was yesterday. I agree with the Secretary of State that we must find the perpetrators of this evil act, and I, too, encourage the community to come forward, because that is where the answer lies. Will the Secretary of State ask the Chief Constable how many Police Service of Northern Ireland detectives are allocated to investigating legacy issues, versus those allocated to finding the perpetrators of the Dunmurry police station attack?
Minister reply
I will take the hon. Member’s question away. The allocation of resources is a matter for the Chief Constable. This is a very urgent investigation. I point out to him that one of the consequences of the legacy Act that the last Government passed was that responsibility for investigating troubles-related cases departed from the PSNI; it does not rest with the PSNI today, but with the legacy commission. It is the commission that does investigations in respect of the cases that have been referred to it, not the PSNI.
Carla Lockhart
Con
Derbyshire Dales
Question
I, like every right-minded person, utterly condemn the abhorrent attack on Dunmurry PSNI station and the one on Lurgan in my constituency. I commend PSNI officers for their bravery in dealing with these attempts on their lives. Does the Secretary of State agree that Sinn Féin’s response drips with rank hypocrisy, condemning the bombers of today while glorifying, lauding and even erecting illegal statues to the bombers and terrorists of yesterday? Does he agree that the decision to put forward Órlaithí Flynn MLA—daughter of Patrick Flynn, convicted of an IRA bomb in Dunmurry—to condemn this attack was a calculated insult to victims and a grotesque reminder that Sinn Féin’s words condemn terrorism, but their politics still romanticise it? Surely the Government should reflect on their decision not to strengthen the legislation on glorification of terrorism and act to legislate against it immediately.
Minister reply
The hon. Member, quite rightly, speaks with great sincerity and anger about what has happened. On the very last point that she raised, she will be familiar with the provisions of the Terrorism Act 2006. As she will be aware, the Government have recently agreed to ask Jonathan Hall KC, the independent reviewer of terrorist legislation, to undertake a review of section 1 and report back.
Alex Easton
Con
Bradford South
Question
In the last year, there have been nine bomb attacks aimed at the PSNI from the men of darkness, who hide behind dark doors, in the dark and behind balaclavas. What action can the Secretary of State take to ensure that the PSNI has adequate funding? It is 700 police officers down, and the funding is still not in place. Will he agree to meet me and the Chief Constable to listen to those concerns about funding, so that we can beat the men of evil and not return to the past?
Minister reply
I know that the Police Service of Northern Ireland is treating this particular investigation with the urgency that it requires. Referring to the question from the hon. Member for Spelthorne (Lincoln Jopp)—I thank him once again for his service in Northern Ireland—what would help the police to bring the men of darkness to the light of justice is information that somebody probably knows. That information would enable people to be arrested and, if there is sufficient evidence, prosecuted for what they have done. That is the single most important contribution that can be made to assist the PSNI in trying to find out who was responsible.
Jim Shannon
DUP
Strangford
Question
I thank the Secretary of State for his answers. Police numbers, intelligence, CCTV, IRA infiltration, people sending information—those are all issues. It is beyond disappointing that this same New IRA was able to plan to hijack and deploy a second device in west Belfast without any prior interception. The Chief Constable of the PSNI and the Police Federation for Northern Ireland have continually highlighted a lack of resources for policing. Will the Secretary of State please explain whether the lack of ability to combat this group of murderous, terrorist thugs is due to failures in intelligence sharing—MI5, MI6, special branch—or to a lack of police service on the ground that affects patrolling in high-risk areas? More importantly, what steps will the Secretary of State undertake to address those issues?
Minister reply
There is a huge amount of effort going in, as I indicated earlier, and most of it is unseen by the general public for reasons that everyone in the House will understand. As much information as can be gathered on what these people are seeking to do, we seek to acquire, but we either have to catch people in the act or get information from those who know who was responsible in order to see them prosecuted. It cannot be just left to the PSNI and our security partners, who once again I pay tribute to; they do a truly extraordinary job on behalf of us all, but they need some help from others who have information that they can bring to bear, so that people are held to account for what they have done.
Shadow Comment
Sorcha Eastwood
Shadow Comment
The Shadow responded by condemning terrorism and praising the PSNI's work in keeping communities safe. She urged the Government to ensure that the PSNI is adequately resourced to tackle various forms of terrorism, including Northern Ireland-related terrorism, extreme right-wing and left-wing terrorism, Islamic terrorism, and those without ideology.
▸
Assessment & feedback
Summary accuracy
About House of Commons Debates
House of Commons debates take place in the main chamber of the House of Commons. These debates cover a wide range of topics including government policy, legislation, and current affairs. MPs from all parties can participate, question ministers, and hold the government accountable for its decisions.