North Belfast unionist Mr Nigel Dodds today visited the parents of the Catholic teenager shot dead by loyalists at the weekend to offer his condolences and assure them the killers did not represent the vast majority of Protestants.
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The Democratic Unionist MP said there could never be an excuse for murder or for anyone taking the law into their own hands.
Gerard Lawlor (19) was gunned down by the Ulster Freedom Fighters as he walked home through north Belfast on Sunday night.
More than 5,000 people from both sides of the community last night gathered for a vigil at the scene of the killing of Mr Lawlor, who will be buried tomorrow.
Mr Dodds said he visited the home of the grieving parents to express his condolences and sympathy at their loss.
"I wanted to convey to them that the vast majority of the Protestant community, and indeed every right-thinking person in society, totally deplores and abhors what has happened," said Mr Dodds.
Mr Lawlor's parents have appealed for there to be no retaliation for their son's murder, and Mr Dodds said he admired the courage and fortitude with which they were meeting their terrible loss.
The Northern Assembly minister said nothing could comfort the Lawlors at their time of loss, "I wanted to express the condolences of the vast majority of people of north Belfast at the atrocious waste of a young life, Gerard was gunned down in what was clearly a totally random sectarian killing."
PA