The Epoch Times BY LILY ZHOU
A Belfast court on Saturday denied the bail of high-profile loyalist Winston Irvine who is charged with firearm offences.
The 46-year-old man former Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) head of communications was arrested on Wednesday as part of an investigation into a separate hoax bomb incident that led to the evacuation of Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney from a peace event on March 25.
Coveney was removed from the stage mid-speech at the event organized by the John and Pat Hume Foundation at the Houben Centre on Crumlin Road, north Belfast, after two masked gunmen allegedly hijacked a van and forced the driver to drive to the adjacent Holy Cross Church, carrying a device that the driver thought was a live bomb.
The police later declared the device was a hoax. The Houben Centre and more than 25 nearby homes were evacuated over the incident. A funeral service at the Holy Cross Church, local schools, and a nursing home were also affected.
