Irish republican newspaper "An Phoblacht" called this "nonsense". It added: "The logic of their argument would dictate that any military action by any army anywhere is unjustified because civilian workers were involved in the construction of the enemy's machinery. This was an attack on a prestigious piece of British military hardware". The same source claimed that the total cost of the auxiliary ship was £130 million and that the operation showed the ability of the IRA to keep up its pressure on British forces. The IRA statement remarked: "We will not accept a colonial power adding insult to injury to the Irish people in occupied Ireland by using the Six Counties for con[s]tructing military machiner[y]." Democratic Unionist Party general secretary and MP Peter Robinson called for vetting of shipyard employees. The attack and other problems with the construction of the vessel meant it was not delivered until 1993, three years after originally planned. The final cost of the ship, according to parliamentary sources, was £190 million, £63 million higher than the 1986 estimates.