Gangland murder has been condemned as "evil" by the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin.
Referring specifically to the killing of 26-year-old Paul Kelly on Good Friday night at Charlemont Road in Dublin, he warned: "We see again the terrible domino process of how responding to evil by evil only generates in its turn another act of evil, a neverending cascade of retribution."
In a homily at the Easter vigil Mass in the Pro-Cathedral on Saturday night, he continued: "I remind once again all those who believe that they can impose their rule by violence that by imposing the rule of violence on others all they are doing is closing themselves into the grip of a violence from which there is no way out. The way of violence leads only to death."
He commented that "on the other hand we see a glimmer of hope in the fact that the pattern of violence which long dominated Northern Ireland is coming to an end and there is a genuine feeling that what had seemed an 'impossible peace' can be established and consolidated. On Easter night, the feast of life, we thank God for that progress and for all who contributed to it."
He also thanked God "for the economic progress that we have seen in Ireland in the past years. We thank God that the harshness of poverty is a thing of the past for so many."
But he warned against placing all hope for human progress in economics alone.
"We do not have to look far to realise we do not necessarily become more human or better people simply by having a nicer home, a more elegant car or designer clothes," he said.
The Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, Most Rev John Neill, warned yesterday that while in Ireland today there are signs of hope, of new beginnings, "there is also so much that we tend to take for granted".
In an Easter sermon at Christ Church Cathedral he noted the "growing gap between rich and poor, which leads many to deep despair. There are elderly people terrified that they may become the victims of crime, or that they may fall ill and suffer neglect.
"There are young people trafficked from abroad who are abused in a hideous fashion. These are but a few examples of the world in which we are called to be messengers and agents of God's new creation," he said.
In his Easter message the Presbyterian Moderator, Rev Dr David Clarke, said: "this year, in Ireland at least, the Christian message [of Easter] and the general mood are in accord." He assured politicians "of our prayers for God's blessing upon their endeavours" but said the pain of victims of the violence must not be forgotten as events unfold.
The Methodist President, Rev Ivan McElhinney, said in his Easter message that "this is a festival of hope and there is more hope in Northern Ireland of better things than we have seen or experienced in a lifetime. We rejoice in all of this and look forward to experiencing its fruit in the days ahead."