A car bomb went off near the Northern Ireland headquarters of the UK intelligence service MI5 in the city of Belfast just after midnight on Monday.

The police say no one was killed or injured by the bomb, which went off less than an hour after the UK government formally transferred policing and judicial powers to the Northern Ireland government. In a call to local media later in the day the Real IRA, which last year killed two British soldiers in the deadliest act of violence in Northern Ireland in more than a decade, claimed responsibility.

Last month, a large majority in the Northern Ireland Assembly voted in favour of devolving policing and justice powers. The vote completed a process set in motion 12 years ago with the signing of the Good Friday Agreement which led to the end of direct rule from London and the devolution of power to the Northern Ireland Assembly.