Fr Michael Canny, parish priest of the Waterside Parish in Derry City, said that the people behind the bomb showed no regard for anyone who might have happened to come upon the devices.
Fr Canny, who in April 2011 offered to meet dissident republicans in an effort to end feuding in the city, an offer they later refused, told the Derry Journal newspaper, “There’s great shock and disappointment not only about where the bombs had been placed but of the bombers reckless indifference as to who might come across them.”
According to the PSNI Foyle area acting- commander John Burrows, “The bombs were discovered when a female member of Foyle Search and Rescue looked into a holdall she saw at the back of the Council offices on Thursday September 20. The woman said that she picked the bag up thinking it belonged to someone who had entered the river. When the woman realised what was inside the bag she put it down and contacted police immediately. There were two devices involved in this incident, both of them viable and capable of killing. These people were intent on killing police officers but didn't mind who else they kill in their attempts, and on this occasion it could have been a member of Foyle Search and Rescue Team.”
A long-time and outspoken critic of violence, Fr Canny echoed Inspector Burrows words saying, “The sanctity and dignity of human life is paramount those involved in this type of activity should desist and join the democratic process.”