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Community unites to say goodbye to murdered Catholic policeman

Crowds gather for funeral of Ronan Kerr

CATHAL DERVAN,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Thursday, April 7, 2011, 8:34 AM

Updated Friday, April 15, 2011, 1:18 PM

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Mourners look on as the remains of PSNI constable Ronan Kerr leave Omagh last night on the journey to his family home

Photo by Irish Times

Read more: Northern Irish policeman murdered in dissident bomb attack in Omagh
Catholic and Protestant, North and South, Police and Civilians – Ireland united to say goodbye to Catholic policeman Ronan Kerr and prayed that his murder is not in vain.

The message of defiance from Kerr’s funeral on Wednesday was clear to the Dissident Republicans responsible for his murder when a bomb exploded under his car as he prepared to travel to work last Saturday.

More than a thousand mourners packed the Catholic church in Kerr’s home village of Beragh including Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, Northern Ireland’s First Minister Peter Robinson, and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.

It was the first time an Irish leader had crossed the border for the funeral of a serving PSNI officer and the first time Peter Robinson had attended a Catholic service.

The significance of their actions wasn’t lost on the Congregation who applauded Catholic Primate Sean Brady at the end of the funeral Mass when he said: “This murder is an evil deed and the dissidents must, in God’s name, stop and stop now.”

Primate Brady added: “Parents and grandparents, I beg you, plead with your children and with your grandchildren, not to get involved with violence.

“Violence has nothing, absolutely nothing, to offer except misery and destruction. Choose life, I say, choose goodness, choose peace. That is what God is asking of you.

“That is what the people of all traditions have been saying to all of us, loud and clear, since the moment of Ronan’s tragic death on Saturday last. In God’s name, stop. And stop now.”

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pilib04 | Apr 07, 2011, 08:08 PM EDT

Paradigm is wrong when claiming that SDLP and UU negotiated the Good Friday Agreement (there is no such thing as a Belfast Agreement). The GFA would have been a nonstarter without Ian Paisley, Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness. They were the real peacemakers. And today they continue to show the world how peace can come to difficult situations. Certainly today, McGuinness and Robertson (like Paisley before him) are showing the world how peace can be realized. Something that escaped the dwindling SDLP and UU.

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barneyjo | Apr 07, 2011, 04:03 PM EDT

I'd have to admit that I am not a fan of Cardinal Brady. I think he rightly put it up to Ronan Kerr's killers yesterday as to the offence of murder to God. Its just a shame he has not been as candid when it comes to his critique of Priest Abusers; serial and otherwise!!

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Cranleigh | Apr 07, 2011, 11:45 AM EDT

Good story, guys. Can somebody correct the typo in the first paragraph i.e. 'not in vein'?

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PhlutiePhan | Apr 07, 2011, 10:50 AM EDT

There is no doubt that Sean Cardinal Brady has to "step up" and lead. This may be a start. For the Irish in America, Ronan Kerr lives on.

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Paradigm | Apr 07, 2011, 09:44 AM EDT

So dreadfully sad for all of us. It may have been appropriate to at least acknowledge that the Leaders of the SDLP and Ulster Unionists - the Parties that negotiated the Belfast Agreement - were at the funeral. It would be doubly sad if the reasonable 'middle-ground' of Ulster politics was forgotten - that was where Ronan Kerr stood so courageously and it's the Ronan Kerr's who are breaking the traditional mould of distrust.

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