Praise for NI Assembly security guards

Thanks to Duncan Borrowman for linking to an extraordinary video of the Michael Stone invasion of Stormont yesterday. The two security guards, who apprehended Stone, deserve medals.

The security guards, a male and a female, were unarmed. Stone had a "gun", a garotte and nail bombs. And he was obviously Michael Stone, well-known friendly neighbourhood mass-murderer. So that would have put the fear of hell into anyone tackling him.

Goodness knows how Stone made it to the front door of Stormont, paused for several minutes to daub graffitti on the outside wall by the main door, and then entered the main revolving door.

Don't they have CCTV covering the front? The odd armed policeman? The building has a huge front concourse. It is not as if the man just hopped off a passing bus and sneaked in. His approach up to the front door would have had something of a State procession about it.

It appears that Stone has arthritis, which may have made his apprehension eaiser. The gun was apparently an imitation device, but even then, that's not something you can bring into the equation when he's there in front of you waving it.

The story is still unfolding. Stone "faces a total of five charges of attempted murder...He was also charged with possession of articles for terrorist purposes and possession of explosives."

It all certainly comes under the heading: You couldn't make it up!