A Belfast business is destroyed as the bombing of stores and factories in Northern Ireland continues.
Two armed men planted the bomb that exploded in the Save More a shop on Gresham Street in Belfast city centre. The blast was followed by a fire. No one was hurt in the incident, but one woman customer was taken to hospital suffering from shock.
Business premises are being bombed almost every day, both in the centre of Belfast, on the outskirts of the city or in country towns.
This is the 16th bomb attack this year, an average of more than two a day.
Security forces are disturbed by the apparent ease at which the bombers are getting through to their targets. Traffic has been slow moving in Belfast over the past few days due to intensified army security searches and roadblocks.
Despite this and the setting up of police mobile patrols whose sole task is to stop the bombers, damage caused in the past fortnight to hotels and shops is estimated in the millions.
Another disturbing feature of the latest wave, is that many of the attacks are more like those of the early 1970s. Tactics in recent years often involve using armed men, but in many of the current wave see a bomb plated quietly and then brief warning telephoned.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 7 January 1978.
