Northern Ireland Assembly members today evacuated Stormont and abandoned their first meeting since the St Andrews Agreement in a security alert.
Convicted loyalist murderer Michael Stone, in full view of journalists waiting to interview politicians meeting in another room, pushed through revolving doors at the entrance to Stormont, shouting "No Surrender".
He then threw a bag into the security search area and claimed it was a bomb. It has been reported that there was smoke coming out of the bag and the sounds of sparks.
Michael Stone
Security staff held him to the ground outside the front door of the Assembly during the alert. Stone was seen with a firearm as he was wrestled to the ground. It was not clear if the gun was real or imitation.
Stone was subsequently arrested and taken away by PSNI officers.
The slogan "Sinn Féin/IRA scum" was daubed in red paint on one of the pillars outside the main entrance to Stormont.
British army explosives experts are examining the suspect device at the scene.
There was initial confusion as MLAs, their staff, employees in Parliament Buildings, guests and media where ordered to leave the building. Assembly members and Stormont staff were urged away from the building after the initial evacuation, amid fears a live device had been thrown inside.
Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain has since ordered an urgent report from chief constable Sir Hugh Orde into the breach of security.
Stone, a former leader of the Ulster Freedom Fighters, is most notorious for killing three people and injuring 60 others during a solo gun and grenade attack on an IRA funeral in Milltown Cemetery in Belfast in 1988. He was freed from prison in 2000 under the terms of the Belfast Agreement.
The Assembly was meeting at Stormont for the first time since emergency legislation was passed at Westminster this week aimed at restoring devolved government by next March. The Democratic Unionists and Sinn Féin were expected to indicate their choices for First and Deputy First Ministers next year.
Concerns were expressed in Belfast, Dublin and London that a dispute between the parties over policing could result in the DUP refusing to name the Rev Ian Paisley as its choice for First Minister next year.