A bomb scare closed a Catholic school in Newtownbutler, Co Fermanagh yesterday. About 200 children were sent home from St Mary's primary school after the caretaker spotted a hold-all containing what appeared to be a coffee-jar bomb with wires sticking out of it. It was later declared a hoax. Sinn Fein blamed loyalists and claimed that "the silence of Unionist politicians in relation to many of these attacks does nothing to build confidence in the nationalist community".