Published Tuesday, 23 February 2010
Moments after the explosion was heard across the city, people started contacting UTV to express their shock at the attack.
UTV user Mark wrote: "I live three miles away and my windows shook, it was very loud. Sickened by this attempt on lives in Newry City."
Robert Wallace from Bessbrook was travelling in a taxi which drove past as the bomb exploded and believes he saw the car the device was planted in.
"There was a dark car sitting at the side of the court with its sidelights on," he told UTV, explaining that the taxi driver had thought it was a police car before spotting the Republic of Ireland licence plates.
Moments after the taxi passed by, the bomb went off.
"It shook the car and nearly lifted it off the road," Mr Wallace said.
"We just hadn't a clue what it was because it's been years since we heard something like this in the area."
Dissident republicans have been blamed for the 250lb bomb which went off at 10.37pm on Monday night, as officers were still evacuating the area.
The gates of the court were blown off and a security hut was damaged, while nearby buildings including a 170-year-old church were damaged.
Windows, including a priceless one commemorating the First World War, are feared broken at Downshire Road Presbyterian Church.
Members of a badminton club had just left the premises when the device exploded and left debris scattered across the road.
'Sad day'
Rev Brian Colvin said it could be Thursday before they knew the extent of the impact.
"It is a sad day for our community and we thought these days were behind us," he said.
The minister lives a mile from the blast and heard the explosion.
"There was a loud bang and we knew immediately," he added.
Newry and Armagh MP Conor Murphy told UTV he also heard the blast in his Camlough home, four miles away.
"Obviously it was a substantial blast," he said.
"These people have obviously nothing to offer apart from damaging the physical structure of Newry, but also damaging the reputation of Newry."
A joint statement has been issued by all the churches in Newry across the denominations, condemning what they call the "indiscriminate attack on the whole community".
"We pray that our community will stand together against such actions in the continued pursuit of a lasting peace for all," the statement read.
DUP Policing Board member and MLA Peter Weir said dissidents were threatened by the political progress made in recent weeks at Hillsborough Castle.
"It is a reminder of the depravity and cruel disregard for human life of dissident republicans," he said.
"These people care little for human life in their evil quest to drag us back to the past.
"These people have no mandate and represent only a commitment to a terrorist past that we had all hoped to leave behind in Northern Ireland."
The attack is thought to be the first time a large car bomb has exploded in Northern Ireland since the Real IRA bombing of Omagh in 1998.