Alliance’s Kellie Armstrong MLA has condemned the hijacking and burning of a bus on Abbot Drive, Newtownards on Monday morning.

Speaking in the NI Assembly, Kellie Armstrong MLA stated

‘I condemn this deeply disturbing act of violence.

I would like to pass on my support to the bus driver, who is understandably badly shaken by this incident.

This is 2021 not 1971, the Troubles are behind us. Paramilitaries of all types should have left the stage.

Yet here we are masked thugs with a gun attacking a public service. Northern Ireland rejected violence in 1998. The Community wants a shared and safer future for all.

The police have called for information from anyone who was in the Abbott Drive area around 6.30am who may have seen the hijack taking place and can help the police to catch the individuals responsible.”