Dissident republicans who murdered a young Catholic police officer are waging a useless war against peace, Martin McGuinness said today.
Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister - standing beside PSNI chief constable Matt Baggott, First Minister Peter Robinson and justice minister David Ford - said those who killed Ronan Kerr (25) in Omagh on Saturday were enemies of the people of Ireland.
“They are involved in a useless war against peace. They are enemies of the peace, they are the enemies of the people of Ireland,” he said .
After the constable’s mother, Nuala Kerr, last night urged Catholics not to be dissuaded from joining the police, Mr McGuinness also spoke of his deep pride in the young nationalists and republicans who had chosen to wear the uniform of the PSNI.
Mr McGuinness paid tribute to Mrs Kerr, describing her as an "inspirational woman".
Team-mates of Ronan Kerr in the Gaelic Athletic Association’s (GAA) Beragh Red Knights club said those who killed the 25 year-old had claimed the life of “an Irishman and a Gael”.
Red Knights chairman Gearóid Ó Treasaigh who said Ronan’s decision to join the police enjoyed the support of his team mates.
“Ronan Kerr was a Catholic, an Irishman and a Gael who joined the PSNI because he wanted to play his part in making our society a better place,” he said.
“Many members of our club were aware of Ronan’s career path and supported him on his choice.
“The GAA stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the Kerr family, the PSNI, and the entire community in condemning outright this murder.
“We also send a strong message today to all of those people who continue to engage in this activity — you have no
support in our community and your actions do not represent the views and feelings of the vast majority of people in
Ireland.”
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has confirmed that he will attend Mr Kerr's funeral. The Taoiseach spoke to British prime minister David Cameron by telephone this afternoon to discuss the killing which Mr Kenny has described as an outrage and explore how both governments can react to the killing.
He also spoke to the late Constable Kerr’s mother, Nuala, to express his condolences and condemnation.
First Minister Peter Robinson said he hoped the symbolism of politicians from different traditions standing beside the chief constable would send a powerful message to the dissidents. “It is one of these occasions where perhaps the picture speaks much more than any of the words might do so,” he said.
The Democratic Unionist leader said: “It really does beggar belief because I cannot understand the strategy, if such it can be called, of those who carried out the kind of activity that we saw just a matter of a day or two ago because all that it has done is strengthen the institutions that we have, united our community, bring politicians closer together and ensure that there is a united response in support of the PSNI.”
Mr Baggott said significant resources were being invested in the effort to track down those responsible. But he said the PSNI would not be deflected from its task of delivering effective everyday policing in communities and protecting the public.
The explosive device which killed Constable Kerr was the size of a lunchbox and weighed up to 500 grammes, PSNI officers said today.
Police are continuing to comb the scene of the explosion in an attempt to find out how the bomb was made.
Experts are gathering tiny shards of evidence from the site of the blast site where Constable Kerr died as he got into his car in the residential Highfield Close development, off the main Gortin Road on Saturday.
Security sources believe it is still too early to reach conclusions on details of the type of explosive used in the bomb as the forensic information is yet to be fully examined.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast. The threat from dissidents has been high for some time.
Mr Kerr only finished his initial training in December last year and was on his first posting in Enniskillen. He was going to work when the device exploded as he got into his car.
His grieving mother said: “This is at a time when we are striving for a neutral police force for the good of our country, and I urge all Catholic members not to be deterred by this. We all need to stand up and be counted and to strive for equality.
“We don’t want to go back into the dark days again of fear and terror. We were so proud of Ronan and all that he stood for. Don’t let his death be in vain.”
Mrs Kerr said she was also speaking on behalf of his two brothers, Cathair and Aaron, and sister Dairine. Their father Brian died some time ago.
“He was a wonderful son and brother, always had a smile and a helping hand for everyone. He had all the attributes of a great police officer - fair, empathetic, intelligent, humorous, a great communicator and loyal to all who knew him. And he just loved his work,” she said.
“I would like to appeal to the wider public for any information, no matter how small about this callous crime. Someone knows something. Would you please come forward and do the right thing so that justice can be done.”
The blast shocked Omagh, where 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, were killed in the 1998 Real IRA car bomb attack.
Mr Ford said this morning there was no popular support for the terrorists.
"These acts of terror come from very small groups. It is absolutely clear the vast majority of people, either north or south, want to see the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement work, want to see a peaceful way forward," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme. "What we are talking about is a small group of people who simply do not accept the democratic will of the vast majority of the people of Ireland."
Strongly condemning the murder, the Pat Finucane Centre said the killing was probably intended to deter young men and women from that tradition from joining the PSNI.
To murder those who seek to create a more representative police service,
individuals who carry no responsibility for the wrongs of the past, is morally indefensible and politically bankrupt.
Dissidents have carried out a string of similar attacks on PSNI officers in recent years and have shown a determination to identify Catholic officers in particular for attack.
Pc Stephen Carroll (48) was gunned down in March 2009, just two days after the Real IRA shot dead two British soldiers at the Massereene Army base in Antrim.
Elsewhere, Pc Peadar Heffron was seriously injured when a device exploded under the driver’s seat of his car in west Belfast in January 2010.
In an arrest unconnected with the car bombing, a man (41) has been taken into custody in Co Armagh on suspicion of terrorist activity. He is being held at the police’s specialist interrogation centre in Antrim for questioning.