Northern Irish policeman murdered in dissident bomb attack in Omagh

I have a good idea Dan why not atheists they have no religious axe to grind.30% of what Barneyjo.

@seanomelbourne - but they ARE Irishmen and women and upwards of 30% are Catholic. Those are facts. Where else are you going to draw recruits from?

seanomelbourne - so who enforces the law in NI? Kneecappers?

I never mentioned any religion I said Irishmen and women.

@seanomelbourne - with respect, you're not living here in "The North" You're not witnessing the next generation growning up who are no longer prisoners or victims of history. For this generation, to quote Pearse (I think) "All is changed, and changed utterly" You have an increasing coterminocity between young Catholics and Protestants (and others) socially, pholosophically and at other levels. The anger amongst the Nationalist people in Tyrone (where I live) at the fact that Republicans attacked a Gael, a Catholic and an Irishman is palpable; events here surrounding the funeral of Ronan Kerr and since are avid testament to that. I would say that few people here now could relate in any way to the sub-text of your post. To sum up for you where I think we stand now in Ireland is difficult. Perhaps the words of a song penned by Paul Brady (A Strabane man) can say it better than I; "The twisted wreckage down on main st, will bring us all together in the end. And we'll go marching down the road to Freedom............Freedon!!"

Seano…This sounds like a very circuitous argument…’Irishmen’, by which I am guessing you mean Catholics, should not join the PSNI, this will make it even more unrepresentative of the community it serves, and therefore less likely to be impartial, because Catholics are not represented in any numbers…who do you suggest provides the manpower for the PSNI? Belgians? BTW do you condemn this murder?

barneyjo I never condoned the killing of the police officer.My point is that the same heads are in charge now as then and their is an undercurrent of distrust of the newly formed RUC(and rightly so) There is still a biased in the the north of Ireland by the PSNI towards the nationalist community and if you wish to wear blinkers so be it. The PSNI is not a good place for an Irishman or woman.

@seanomelbourne - Nah, thats just too Pat an answer to my question. A simple "same old same old" doesnt wash back here in Ireland anymore. If you were able to watch any of the coverage of Ronan Kerr's funeral you would have seen that for yourself. I respect your right not to respond to a question if you choose not to, but please dont seek to belittle my understanding of where the evolution of policing in the community here has led us to. I have eluded in other posts on this site that those who murdered Ronan Clarke by their actions were displaying Fascist traits by telling the Irish People "we're right, you're wrong, get over it" I have to say that up until now, reading your posts, I had not considered you in that light. I'd be disappointed to find that I was wrong!!

Seanomelbourne You are an illiterate wank, Who are you to say that the PSNI is "no place for an Irishman", Whats it your business who joins the Northern Ireland Police Service ??,You're are from Dublin, mind your own business. Also there are plenty of Irish Women in that police service as well. God Bless them. And if you are in Melbourne do you tell them down there how you feel about the Brits etc??? You earn your bread under the Crown of Australia The Queen.

FallsRNat.."Quote The RIRA don't exist because of 80 years of hurt.Unuote" If you think the IRA PIRA RIRA are not a product of injustice and had no reason to exist for the last 80 years and 99% of prods are law abiding, then the THOUSANDS of Catholics driven and burned out of their homes in the late 60s must be incorrect too. Seamus stop making sh*t up in your head about rivers of blood and what the prods might have done if they followed the Irish mantra. It's not FACT OR HISTORY and therefore it's only your opinion and that doesn't count for much with your wild imagination. Why don't you just say you are against the killing without adding magic mushroom talk.

Kilsally what is wrong with the PSNI/RUC that they have to have such international scrutiny.As far as the FBI is concerned they have trained some murderous police forces over the years and the RUC is no exception.Dan I am not legitimizing anyone that's your take to satisfy your point of view.Barneyjo I am not here to write an historical tome do your own footwork.All they have done in the north is give the old head a new body and dressed it up with a few Catholic crumbs.

@mamaginnty - peace and unity will come to Ireland, but not without the support of all who genuinely have concern about the future of all people in it, be they Catholic Protestant, or dissenter. The chairman of the local GAA club for which Ronan Kerr played said of him; "He was a Gael, a Catholic and an Irishman" and his fellow club members knew of and supported him in his career choice. Therefore, assuming that dissident Republicans did plant this bomb, they have succeeded in two objectives. 1) They have united people of all creeds in condemnation of this act. 2) what is even more critical is that they have killed someone who was accepted as a Catholic, a Gael, and an Irishman; quite a contribution to the cause of Irish Freedom!!

As I said DANOL it is only coming to light now, in fact just 3 weeks ago, and of course in small print. Monaghan and Dublin were mentioned as being involved just as Omagh is. And how dare you tell me to leave things in a past that involved family and friends. I am angered just like every one else to what is happening now in northern Ireland, we want the 6 counties back but not with killing. Just do not lay the blame on one side only, The loyalists are not happy campers or saints now. Our past, is not printed in our school history books like any other country, the 800 yrs of slavery starvation killing did not happen, should I tell my grandchildren a lie. Peace and an all Ireland is all we ask for now.

sirpeter - the RIRA don't exist because of 80 years of hurt, that is purely republican crap, god forbid, if both sides thought that, then we both nationalist/republican would have had the sh*t bombed out of us by the prods, it is just our luck that 99% of them are peaceful law abiding citizens, it is also true of the brits on the mainland who have turned the other cheek, instead of following the irish mantra which would have meant the streets of Birmingham, Liverpool, London, Manchester running red with irish blood. Now the time is for all irishmen to stand up & say enough is enough & destroy this cancer eating at our community, if this means sacrificing a few sacred cows & dissidents at the same time so be it. There will never be a free state while this eejits are still in existence, the message to them must be - stop or you will be stopped by the nationalist/republican community of the 32 counties.

@seanomelbourne this should be good - please tell us what is not credible about the PSNI. It is the most accountable police force in the world and trains with the FBI. It is devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly, run by the Justice Minister David Ford of the Alliance Party (agreed to by Sinn Fein, DUP, SDLP and UUP), a representative Policng Board made up of elected politicians and independent lay people keep checks on it, a Policing Ombudsman looks at complaints (Formerly Nuala O Loan of the SDLP but now a former Canadian `Mountie`) and at local level kept in check by District Policing Partnerships made up of locally elected councillors and independent lay people. No other police force in the world has so much accountability.