A hoax bomb scare which disrupted a major retail conference in Belfast could endanger new investment, Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain warned today.
Around 2,000 delegates attending the British Council of Shopping Centres Conference were evacuated from the city's showpiece Waterfront Hall following a telephone warning.
The Northern Ireland Secretary said: "I told the conference on Tuesday that Belfast is the best place in Europe in which to invest. "We have the potential to benefit from multi-million pound investment and those who threaten that investment are trying to kill jobs and are the enemies of everyone working for a better future."
Former Stormont talks chairman US Senator George Mitchell was due to address the conference involving some of the biggest names in the retail sector. The conference was moved to the nearby Ulster Hall.
The alert ended shortly after 4pm, around five hours after the warning was issued. A police spokeswoman confirmed nothing was found. The SDLP said the conference was the biggest to be held in Northern Ireland and warned the alert will jeopardise future events coming to the city.
South Belfast MP Dr Alasdair McDonnell said: "To see 2,000 delegates herded out of the Waterfront Hall and onto the streets of Belfast because of a bomb scare was disheartening to say the least.
"This is not the image of Belfast, and indeed of Northern Ireland, that we wanted those delegates to take away with them. "But the stark reality is that this is exactly what will happen.
"The one memory that will stand out in the mind of those 2,000 people is their conference being interrupted by a bomb scare. "I am deeply disappointed that one of the finest showcase conferences Northern Ireland has seen for many years has been wrecked by this senseless act."
PA