Derry has not made the shortlist of possible sites for a new Police Service of Northern Ireland college.
There had been intense lobbying from local politicians and business leaders for the college to be located in the nationalist city. They believed it would build an important bridge between the Catholic community and the police.
It is understood applications concerning several possible locations in Derry failed to meet the criteria. Some sources said there was a possibility of legal action.
A special working group is now considering 28 bids from landowners and property developers.
The decision will be announced by the summer, with work on the college beginning once planning permission is granted. Several bids for the new premises are understood to have come from the Belfast area.
Meanwhile, a 13-year-old Catholic girl has escaped injury after finding a pipe-bomb in the laneway of her home in Ballymena, Co Antrim.
She discovered the device on Thursday night outside her home in Craigadoo Lane. She did not know what it was and carried in inside. Her 18-year-old brother became suspicious and took it back outside.
The bomb was later defused by British army technical experts.
In other news, a 26-year-old schoolteacher accused of plotting to cause a Continuity IRA explosion was refused bail in the High Court in Belfast yesterday.
Mr Emmet Lavelle, Lettergreen Road, Donagh, near Lisnaskea, Co Fermanagh, was arrested last month along with his mother, who was granted bail last week, and his father who has yet to apply for bail.