Politicians across Northern Ireland have condemned the mortar attack on Armagh RUC station as an attempt to wreck the Belfast Agreement.
The Northern Secretary, Mr Peter Mandelson, insisted the peace process would not be set back by such incidents.
"We are not going to tolerate any action, from any quarter, to disrupt and destabilise the peace process which is so strong and so important to the people and future of Northern Ireland."
Dr Robin Eames, Archbishop of Armagh, said the entire community must condemn the attack. "Those who were responsible have no agenda for our society but destruction and death."
The deputy leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, Mr John Taylor MP, has demanded a swift response from Dublin and London. He said Northern Ireland would not escape another atrocity unless the bombers were caught.
"Security forces on both sides of the Border must face up strongly to the threat, because if the `Real IRA' continues, the agreement will be torn apart."
Speaking from Washington, Deputy First Minister Mr Seamus Mallon said; "This attack was designed to kill and injure in an indiscriminate way. It is a deliberate attempt to destabilise political progress by those opposed to democratic devolved government. Unfortunately, a minority still see violence as a means of subverting the democratically expressed will of the people who voted for the institutions established by the Good Friday agreement.
"However, the devolved government we have working for the people of Northern Ireland is strong and durable. We will not allow those opposed to moving forward to hold us back in the past."
"The people behind this attack are political dinosaurs, whose outdated politics belong in the past. They have no mandate to carry out this type of violence," added SDLP chairman Mr Jim Lennon.
Ulster Unionist Assembly member for Newry and Armagh Mr Danny Kennedy said: "Once again, dissident republicans are prepared to go to any length, including putting civilian lives at risk. That is why it is now time for the Irish Government and Bertie Ahern to act immediately. By failing to use the legislation that was enacted following the Omagh bomb, Bertie Ahern is openly giving these terrorists a free run."
In a statement issued in New York, where he is attending the UN General Assembly, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, condemned the attacks. "These are attacks on democracy," he said. "The perpetrators show a callous disregard for the wishes of the overwhelming majority of the people of this island, who have firmly endorsed the Good Friday agreement. They must be pursued with the full vigour of the law until they are brought to justice."