Two people are in custody as police investigate a security alert and hijacking in Belfast which led to Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney being evacuated from a peace event.
A 41-year-old man and 38-year-old woman were arrested on Sunday following the incident, which is being linked to the UVF.
Detectives questioned the man under the Terrorism Act while the woman was detained on suspicion of possessing a firearm in suspicious circumstances, possessing criminal property and concealing criminal property.
Two vehicles, a quantity of controlled drugs and a large sum of cash were also recovered.
Mr Coveney was ushered off stage by his security team as he was giving a speech at the event in north Belfast on Friday after a “suspect device”, which transpired to be a hoax bomb, was discovered in the car park of the Houben Centre venue on the Crumlin Road.
A van was hijacked in the nearby Shankill road area and the driver threatened by two gunmen, who forced him drive a device - which he believed to be a live bomb - to the Houben Centre.
The building was evacuated and a funeral service at the nearby Holy Cross church was disrupted.
The incident provoked widespread political condemnation, with Northern Secretary Brandon Lewis describing the actions as “reprehensible”.
However, Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) leader and ex-UVF prisoner Billy Hutchinson said he was “surprised but not shocked” by the event.
Mr Hutchinson also warned of a further escalation in violence if loyalist concerns around the Northern Ireland protocol are not addressed, saying that a political vacuum “will be filled by men of violence”.
When asked by The Irish Times if he condemned the incident, the former paramilitary leader, who was one of the negotiators of the peace process, said: “I don’t condemn things…the reality is we need to work together to make sure these things don’t happen. If you condemn people, how are you supposed to work with them?
“The protocol has been a problem in all of this. If we don’t make sure politics works then you do leave a vacuum for violence.
“I was surprised but not shocked by Friday’s incident because I didn’t think we were at that level. I had been warned that people need to pay attention to what is going on here and they’re not.
“I know that the Irish and British governments are being told that this (protocol concerns) will go away - but they won’t.”
Mr Hutchinson urged the North’s unionist politicians to “lead” on the issue, saying those living in socially deprived communities had become disillusioned with politics and felt they “don’t really have a stake in society”.
“What becomes your stake is the Union flag or the Tricolour,” he said.
He added: “Anyone who worked on the Good Friday Agreement knows it is done on the basis of confidence in each other.
“We need to work at politics now. Politicians have been told time and time again - do not let a political vacuum be created because it will be filled by men of violence.”