CIVIC, POLITICAL and church leaders from Omagh, across Ireland and Britain and abroad have condemned the murder of Ronan Kerr and have appealed for dissident violence to stop.
Michael Gallagher, whose 21- year-old son Aiden was killed in the 1998 dissident Omagh bombing, said the town had suffered “a double insult” with the latest killing. “I feel anger because we have campaigned for people responsible for these kinds of attacks to be brought to justice,” he said.
“There is just anger that I know these groups have gone on to murder someone else. Anger that they murdered 31 people in Omagh . . . [and] that authorities on both sides of the Border seem incapable of reeling them in.”
Fr Kevin McElhennon, parish priest at Christ the King church in the town, said everyone faced a moral obligation to assist the police investigation. “No one should be in any doubt that this terrible deed is morally wrong and indefensible,” he said.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny said the murder was a “heinous and pointless act of terror”.
“Those who carried it out want to drag us back to the misery and pain of the past. They are acting in defiance of the Irish people. They must know that they can never succeed in defeating the democratic will of the people,” he said.
President Mary McAleese said: “This heinous crime will not succeed in its evil intent of destroying the peaceful and democratic future to which the people of Northern Ireland are so clearly committed.”
First Minister Peter Robinson said: “It was a young man who was bravely entering the police service, recognising that he was putting his life on the line. I have absolutely no doubt the overwhelming number of people in Northern Ireland want to move on. It’s only a few Neanderthals who want to go back. They will not drag us back to the past.”
Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams said republicans were “seething” at the murder which was a “futile attempt to destroy the progress that has been made, which has the overwhelming support of the people of this island”.
Catholic primate Dr Seán Brady said: “I implore the perpetrators of this shameful killing to realise the futility of their actions, and to call off this senseless campaign.”
In Washington, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said the murderers “represent the failures of the past, and their actions run counter to the achievements, aspirations and collective will of the people of Northern Ireland”.
Alliance leader and Minister for Justice David Ford said: “Those responsible for the murder have nothing to offer the people of Northern Ireland but heartache and suffering.”
Minister for Justice Alan Shatter said of the killers: “However evil their motivation or brutal their tactics they will not succeed in defeating the will of the Irish people. For my part, I pledge again, in honour of the memory of the latest young victim, that nothing will remain undone in the fight against this evil.”
Ulster Unionist leader Tom Elliott said: “The callous murder of this young officer will come as a great shock to the local community and my thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and colleagues at this time.”
SDLP leader Margaret Ritchie said: “This has not only stunned the people of Omagh, it has stunned the entire country. This is not what the people want. They cannot be allowed to continue their campaign.”
Northern Secretary Owen Paterson said: “The people in all parts of Ireland and beyond want peace and those who carried out this atrocity are in the grip of an obscene delusion if they think that by murder they can defy their will.”
Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan said: “We in An Garda Síochána stand together with our colleagues in the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
“Our uniforms may be woven from different cloth, but the police on this island are bound together by a shared resolve and determination to bring those responsible for this senseless crime to justice.”
PSNI chief constable Matt Baggott described the murdered police officer as “a peacemaker” and “a modern day hero”.
Archbishop of Armagh Dr Alan Harper said: “The Church of Ireland community is both proud and indebted to the service of this brave young officer. We stand united with his family and hope that our heartfelt prayers and sympathy will bring some comfort in their great loss.”
Presbyterian moderator Norman Hamilton said: “The courage and commitment of the PSNI officer who has given his life are the qualities we all must show as we continue to build our shared future together and banish hatred and killing to the past.”
Methodist president the Rev Paul Kingston said Ronan Kerr was committed “to the protection of life and the enforcement of law and order [and] had more to offer the community than those who have so callously taken his life”.