60 Comments

• seanomelbourne | Apr 11, 2011, 03:47 AM EDT

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

• barneyjo | Apr 10, 2011, 05:41 AM EDT

  @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?

• DanOLoingsigh | Apr 10, 2011, 05:22 AM EDT

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

• seanomelbourne | Apr 10, 2011, 01:23 AM EDT

  I never mentioned any religion I said Irishmen and women.

• barneyjo | Apr 09, 2011, 01:37 PM EDT

  @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!!"

• DanOLoingsigh | Apr 09, 2011, 12:44 PM EDT

  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?

• seanomelbourne | Apr 08, 2011, 08:15 PM EDT

  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.

• barneyjo | Apr 06, 2011, 06:57 PM EDT

  @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!!

• Dublinjas | Apr 06, 2011, 05:12 PM EDT

  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.

• sirpeter | Apr 06, 2011, 01:18 PM EDT

  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.

• seanomelbourne | Apr 05, 2011, 08:12 PM EDT

  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.

• barneyjo | Apr 05, 2011, 08:10 PM EDT

  @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!!

• mamaginnty | Apr 05, 2011, 06:35 PM EDT

  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.

• FallsRNat | Apr 05, 2011, 04:44 PM EDT

  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.

• Kilsally | Apr 05, 2011, 01:22 PM EDT

  @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.

• DanOLoingsigh | Apr 05, 2011, 08:05 AM EDT

  Seanomelbourne – Just as you have a right to free speech, the men and women who join the PSNI ALSO have a free choice. You are right, the underlying cause of bombings is still present; its people just like you, who use terms such as PSNI/RUC, and thus lend legitimacy to antidemocratic groups who prefer bombs and kneecappings to the rule of law.

• barneyjo | Apr 05, 2011, 03:44 AM EDT

  @seanomelbourne - re your remark 2he same old Orange culture is still in control" it may help to further the discussion if you were to expand on that particular view, in terms of your reason for saying that. As it stands your observation is somewhat of a "throwaway" statement!!

• seanomelbourne | Apr 04, 2011, 07:59 PM EDT

  Dan I was born in Dublin and exercising my right to free speech.You prefer to sink into a tirade of abuse.Sirpeter did not condone or condemn the killing of the police officer,but the underlying cause of bombings in the north is still present.And for you to portray the PSNI/RUC as a credible force is disingenuous.The same old Orange culture is still in control.

• barneyjo | Apr 04, 2011, 04:10 PM EDT

  @sirpeter - despite the partial temptation to agree with you, I have to come down on the side of the saying "Two wrongs dont make a right!!"

• sirpeter | Apr 04, 2011, 09:25 AM EDT

  As I said already I don't condone this killing. I think it was wrong.I support the peace process and I hope these killings stop.I don't support the RIRA or the CIRA. But I will say one thing,we all want to move forward away from the past,but not at the expense of distorting the fact's about the past as alot of people do here. The RIRA are the product of 20 generations of terrible injustice in NI. They are the children who watched their father's been beaten and murdered in a statelet that used brute force to keep them down if anyone stood up against that statelet. While we can't condone the actions of these people,surly we can understand that they were not born that way, that everyone of us is only a product of what we were thought and how we were treated. Maybe they are more to be pitied then condemned.There but for the grace of God go I.

• barneyjo | Apr 04, 2011, 06:23 AM EDT

  @Kilsally - "Exactly!!"

• mcdolan | Apr 04, 2011, 03:59 AM EDT

  Words cannot describe my disgust at this cowardly and nonsensical act of murder. All of us, of every persuasion and ever philosphy, need to do everything we can to root out these murderers, whoever they are, and whatever they stand for, because this island will not be dragged back to the terror of the past. My deepest sympathies to the family of Ronan Kerr, and to the people of Omagh who seem never to escape these ongoing tragedies.

• Kilsally | Apr 04, 2011, 03:35 AM EDT

  the dissident `brits out` philosophy is pie in the sky. as the late David Ervine (of UVF / PUP who was born, bred and raised in Northern Ireland) said: "I AM the British presence here, and I'm not withdrawing anywhere."

• barneyjo | Apr 04, 2011, 03:33 AM EDT

  @sirpeter - Lets not you and I (or anyone else for that matter) kid ourselves. The dogs in the street could have told you years ago that this moment would arrive. The present agreements in place to politically govern the six counties are there by the democratic will of the people living in the six counties. There is lauchpad for political pursuance of an increasingly Federated and (hopefully one day) United Ireland. The small "rump" of disconnected souls who for reasons only known to themselves are still trying to "reach the future through the past" are telling the rest of us what they are about; which is one of two things; 1) that they are stupid, blind and short sighted, with no vision for the future for their country or for the community from which they come. 2) that they are in fact FASCISTS who are pursuing the line "We're right, you're wrong - get over it!!" If its the former then its clear they are going nowhere, politically at least. In the sophisticated Ireland of today, a political analysis which amounts to nothing more than "Brits Out" wont wash; the Party you supported as I once did have accepted that. If it is the latter, then they are taking on both the Irish Nation and its Diaspora across the world who have long since rejected Fascism, and spilled blood both in Ireland, and across the world in doing so!!

• DanOLoingsigh | Apr 04, 2011, 03:08 AM EDT

  Seanomelbourne – If Irish men and women choose to join the PSNI, who are you on the other side of the world to say they should not? The PSNI are the legitimate law enforcement body in that part of Ireland, would you rather that law enforcement was left in the hands of antidemocratic bombers and gunmen?

• Kilsally | Apr 04, 2011, 03:07 AM EDT

  @seanomelbourne `has not changed the anti Irish culture in that organisation.It's about Ireland ` ...such as what? It is staffed almost entirely by Northern Irish people, it has GAA and football teams, what more do you want? what dont the PSNI do that the Garda do that makes the PSNI `anti-Irish?` jamthecat@ ..because the Loyalist paramilitaries are all but gone and bacause the dissidents have a habit of targeting Catholic officers - they killed and claimed responsibility for Stephen Carroll two years ago, days after killing two soldiers at the Antrim army barracks (who were due to go to Afghanistan the next day) along with injuring their `british collaborator` polish pizza deliveryman. They shot and injured a catholic officer in Dungannon who had just dropped his kid of at school a couple year back (he managed to drive away whilst shot) and this time last year they set off another under car bomb and a GAA playing Catholic officer Peadar Heffron @sirpeter "of any ACTIVE forums where I can find out what the Loyalist Paramilitaries are thinking?" No because they all support he peace process and have no reason to exist as the constitutional position of NI is parked. Any remainders have if they werent already turned to crime gangs and drug dealers.

• DanOLoingsigh | Apr 04, 2011, 02:44 AM EDT

  mamaginnty – I know it was Mothers Day, and you probably overdid the oul’ Baileys 'n Ice, but you must really resist the urge to post such utter nonsense. What the f*** did the Britsih Army have to do with Omagh? And is it really appropriate to raise the Dublin and Monaghan allegations just now? Who the f*** else would be behind this cowardly killing than antidemocratic elements of so-called dissident republicans? MamaG…The Bankers have f***ed the country, our youth are packing suitcases, even the queen of England is a-coming, that’s the present and the future…car bombs, CIRA, and the rest should be left where they belong, in the past. Pray for all of us, and pray you can let go of your anti-unionist, Anglophobic bitterness and bigotry.

• mamaginnty | Apr 03, 2011, 11:21 PM EDT

  This was a terrible thing to happen to the young man, I pray for his family. There are quite a few catholics now working with the NIP. No one has claimed responsibility, of course dissident republicans are always mentioned. The Omagh tragedy in the nineties, it has only been released lately after all these years that the British army had something to do with that bombing. Also the bombings in Dublin and Monaghan. So many things are only coming to light now.

• jamthecat | Apr 03, 2011, 10:26 PM EDT

  I'm curious -- has any "dissident Republican" group taken responsibility for this murder? Because in the past some bombings that were blamed on the IRA and its affiliates later turned out to have actually been carried out by Unionist groups...going back as far as 1966. So if no one's taken responsibility for it, then how do they know it was it Catholic on Catholic murder? Why is that the automatic assumption? Protestants have been just as vicious, if not more-so, when dealing with Catholics.

• Cranleigh | Apr 03, 2011, 10:24 PM EDT

  Horrible. Anybody who cares about Ireland should take every opportunity to condemn these fanatics and their idiotic supporters.

• seanomelbourne | Apr 03, 2011, 10:09 PM EDT

  Dan I do not care how many Catholics join the PSNI/RUC I do not see the situation in religious terms. Again I state the PSNI/RUC is no place for an Irishman. The name change has not changed the anti Irish culture in that organisation.It's about Ireland not about religion.

• sirpeter | Apr 03, 2011, 09:07 PM EDT

  Kilsally..What I posted was not an argument.It was an insight into the minds of the RIRA. What you think doesn't matter a sh*t.You are not going to blow anybody up are ya? It's not MY argument. I don't have an agenda on this site other then to try to present Irish historic fact's. I KNOW Ireland is culturally, politically and economically linked. But the RIRA want a fu*king United Ireland.Again stop applying your own logic and thinking they are stupid. You then have blocked your ears and that doesn't help. I know what the RIRA are thinking...ANYBODY out there know of any ACTIVE forums where I can find out what the Loyalist Paramilitaries are thinking? All Loyalist's seem to talk about is fu*king Orange marches and flags. The forums are dead.

• kerryboy | Apr 03, 2011, 08:32 PM EDT

  Idiots! Get a job, get a life! The Troubles are over, it is the 21st century, for God's sake. Get over it, take your historical,hysterical, hormonal testosterone fighting issues & channel them into something constructive. The world is bad/sad enough in the Middle East & other places less "civilized", ostensibly. Ireland haa supposedly moved into the Euro/western mode of civilization. Time to move on, boys! You need to welcome tourists, not kill innocents for no good reason. Make peace, not war. Ireland does not need this meaninglus kind of strife to start up again! What does it all accomplish?

• sirpeter | Apr 03, 2011, 08:31 PM EDT

  barneyjo..If you think my analysis is something approaching "wishful thinking" Then you don't know me at all. My analysis is based on what the hardliner,s are thinking. The RIRA is still there,not powerful or very active but there none the less.That's what I meant by a low heat. Do you know how hard the Irish and British Governments media tried over the years to make out that Sinn Fein were a pack of murderers. Years and years of media brainwashing to get people to think they were all murderers. Yet 10% of the Irish people in the south voted for them or 220,661 people. Let's say out of that you have 5000 hardliners in the south. How many in the North? Plus how many around the world? That's plenty heat. You are continuing like many others down through history to apply the logic that why fight when you haven't a hope of winning..That logic does not apply to RIRA volunteers.Surely you must understand the psychology of every armed rebellion in Ireland by now. I'm a Sinn Feiner and a supporter of the peace process.My wishful thinking is that the RIRA give it a long chance to work. To be honest barneyjo thinking the lifeblood of that hard core tradition; the next generation are leaving Ireland for the Americas and the Antipode is a bit wishful thinking too. You might not be worried about the RIRA and the Loyalist Paramilitaries..BUT I am. I'm certainly watching the way things are going and this bomb makes me cringe.Getting comfort from the way things are now is fine and it all looks safe enough. But things could change. Sinn Fein are doing their best to keep the peace process going. But from what I can see the RIRA and starting to hate Sinn Fein more and more. This is not good.

• Aliciarose | Apr 03, 2011, 07:11 PM EDT

  Please excuse my language, I apologise, but I hope the bastard/s who committed this crime against this young man rots in hell. I don't care whether they are Catholic or Protestant, you will go to the same place. Do you want to back to The Troubles? The people of this beautiful country do not want it. I hope you are caught soon and put away. Shame there isn't the death penalty.

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

  @ANYBODY - OH DEAR GOD, ITS GROUNDHOG DAY (AGAIN!!)Wasnt it Pearse who said "Ireland unfree shall never be at peace" its even more true to say "Ireland not at peace, shall never be free!!"

• DanOLoingsigh | Apr 03, 2011, 06:55 PM EDT

  Seanom…how does that argument go again…oh yes, the Catholics in the six counties are constantly persecuted by an unrepresentative polices service, so the best way to change that is to get more Catholics into the police, then we can murder one or two, intimidate the rest, to demonstrate how the unrepresentative polices service constantly persecute the Catholics in the six counties?

• seanomelbourne | Apr 03, 2011, 06:00 PM EDT

  The PSNI/RUC is no place for an Irishman.

• Kilsally | Apr 03, 2011, 05:43 PM EDT

  @sirpeter "Call them what you will.It won't make any difference. Because the fact remains there are Republicans out there and all over the world who won't stop until every last vestige of British rule is out of Ireland." ..what a silly argument - the UK & Ireland are so culturally, politically and economically linked that would be impossible. The Irish County system came from England, the legal system is based on English common law - the list of British related things in the Republic is endless. This killing is totally pointless as 40 years of IRA bombing did not and could not force the majority of the population of Northern Ireland to change their minds. So unless you are going to start a campaign of genocide and remove 60% of the population of NI (One fifth the population of the island of Ireland) then the dissident campaign if utterly futile. Sinn Fein also need to stop sending out mixed messages. Very good and proper for them to condemn this yet there is a glimmer of hypocrisy since the excusues used by these folks are the exact same ones previously used by Sinn Fein-IRA and only recently Sinn Fein was implicated about kids pictured with balaclavas and machines guns posing for pictures at an EU funded Irish cultural centre which were uploaded to a local SF facebook or Stormont minister Michelle Gildernew giving references to recently convicted Gerry McGeough (former SF now anti SF who considers them sellouts for entering Stormont) #notinmyname

• ConnieCobe | Apr 03, 2011, 05:31 PM EDT

  I have visited Ireland twice now and know the people there to be good hearted folks...both Northern and Republic sectors. All countries have freaks that do this irresponsible stuff but in Ireland, when peace has finally been found (and Northern Ireland is striving to open it's borders to tourists too,) I think this poor young man should be honored as the hero he is. I am sure he is with God now. RIP officer. God speed.

• aidanwalsh | Apr 03, 2011, 04:59 PM EDT

  IT IS VERY SAD THAT A LIFE WAS TAKEN FROM SOMEONE WHO WAS PUT IN A POSITION TO PROTECT ALL THE MEN,WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN NORTHERN IRELAND...MAKES NO SENSE WHATSOEVER...MY THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS TO HIS FAMILY...R.I.P. AND MAY GOD NOW WATCH OVER HIM...

• bootsjoyce4 | Apr 03, 2011, 04:41 PM EDT

  Senseless and horrific. All parties must stand together in condemning this slaughter. Culprits should be executed!

• barneyjo | Apr 03, 2011, 04:30 PM EDT

  @sirpeter - I disagree entirely with your analysis; indeed upon second reading, it could be construed to something approaching "wishful thinking" on the part of the author.1)"That Loyalist Paramilitaries will start up again" - Why? As far as they are concerned, the question of a United Ireland has been parked for at least a generation. 2)"If RIRA gain momentum" where is the momentun going to come from? The Provisionals campaign was sustained by a large supportive Republican Community with very legitimate grievances that have in large measure been addressed. Effective equality legislation guarantees parity of esteem. There is an increasing meeting of minds between loyalist and republican working classes. The limited showing of the "Physical Republican Tradition" was roundly rejected at the last Assembly election, with no indication that the same constituency will fare any better electorally in future. Sinn Fein have an increased mandate within Dail Eireann. So, no, there will not be a meaningful, sustained resurgaence of Physical Force Republicanism (keeping the home fires burning on a low heat?? - hardly!!). Those who are still wedded to that belief can at best only hope to fight to a standstill, after they have tried (or succeeded) to kill more members of the community they pruport to represent. I agree totally with your assertion as to the existence of a group of "hard core" Republican Families with tentacles that are deeply rooted in the community. However the lifeblood of that hard core tradition; the next generation are leaving Ireland for the Americas and the Antipodes in search of a better life. Those that are left are "Cannon Fodder" and to be frank, are of no meaningful use in attempts to ignite further inter-communal strife. Wishful thinking is fine; reality is someting else.

• jcaulfield | Apr 03, 2011, 03:50 PM EDT

  THE BLISS OF THE rira IS IGNORANCE

• Sparklet | Apr 03, 2011, 01:41 PM EDT

  The RIRA may have more support around the world, but they don't in Ireland. None of the terrorist groups have support from the general population. The majority of people in Ireland are peace-loving, decent people. How does bombing people into submission make terrorists any better than the people they are supposed to be at war with?

• forflann | Apr 03, 2011, 01:30 PM EDT

  I just watched Michael Collins this morning, and this is the first thing I saw on Irish Central. How long will Irishmen kill Irishmen? Despite religious and political differances, freedom and self-determination won't be accomplished this way. I do agree, to quote Paul Mccartny should be given back to the Irish. Or at least have a vote on self-rule, the US did that with Puerto Rico. The majority happened to like being a US possesion and there have been no more problems from FLAN since.

• Sparklet | Apr 03, 2011, 12:40 PM EDT

  #notinmyname trending on Twitter. It's the majority in the north and south who are stating quite plainly what they want. Murder is wrong. Partition was wrong but you can't right wrongs with violence. End of. Anyone who even attempts to justify is guilty by association.

• Aughavey | Apr 03, 2011, 12:35 PM EDT

  Unfortunately they use the exact same reasoning Sinn Fein and IRA used in previous decades, that police officers, catholic or not are traitors to the Irish Republicans cause and are crown forces and therefore legitimate targets just as the polish pizza delivery guts outside the Antrim army barracks were 'British collaborators '...... dented perhaps supplied by colonel gadaffi of libya. St need to stop tacitly supporting terrorism in the events they hold and merchandise they sell as it lends legitimacy to the dissidents

• sirpeter | Apr 03, 2011, 11:42 AM EDT

  Call them what you will.It won't make any difference. Because the fact remains there are Republicans out there and all over the world who won't stop until every last vestige of British rule is out of Ireland. They consider the PSNI the same as the RUC. They are still been harnessed and arrested by the PSNI like nothing has changed. Using force and harassment is not going to work. These are volunteers who are willing to die fighting for a United Ireland.They are tough hard men and we don't have a system to deal with them. To use harsh measures against them is exactly what they want. Frankly they don't give a damn about what the majority want. They are Irishmen who want a United Ireland and the British gone.Unless you are willing to fight for that you can shove your majority up your ass.That's the way they think. The RIRA are keeping the home fires burning at a low heat. Many hard line Republicans who voted for the GFA in Sinn Fein are becoming disillusioned with the peace process. Here are the fact's believe them or don't believe them..I don't really care. The RIRA are only going to get stronger as time goes on. They need to find a way to bring these guys on board the peace process. How they can do this I have no idea. What I do know is the RIRA have more support around the world then the Loyalist Paramilitaries will ever have.

• citizen69 | Apr 03, 2011, 11:41 AM EDT

  This young police officer was more of an Irish patriot than the scum that murdered him will ever be. He wanted to work for & serve the WHOLE community and help provide peace & order. His murderers are xenephopic thugs that do not represent 1% of the Irish people North & South.

• sirpeter | Apr 03, 2011, 11:41 AM EDT

  (Cont)If the RIRA start gaining momentum.It is only a matter of time before the Loyalist Paramilitaries start up again. If that happens the British should make a declaration that they are handing back the 6 counties in 50 years or 100 years or something like that,like they did with Hong Kong. There is no other solution I can think of. Despite what loyalist's on this board say. They haven't a fraction of the support that the RIRA can "drum" up (Pun intended)Better to have to deal with Loyalist Paramilitaries...Then with both. A United Ireland is the only way forward in the long run. So scream and shout that they are a bunch of murderers all you want. Wolfe Tone,Robert Emmet,Young Irelanders,Men of 1916,Micheal Collins and the Old IRA,PIRA,INLA.All hard men. They were all called murderers by the Irish as well as the British. They all felt they were right and the majority were wrong.

• PhlutiePhan | Apr 03, 2011, 11:36 AM EDT

  Let's all take a deep breath of air. Gerry Adams and the Sinn Fein are the political arm of the provisional I.R.A. The provisional I.R.A. wants to turn the Irish Republic into a socialist entity much like Cuba. They have connections for arms to Iran and then back to China. This is a message aimed at Catholics who support the government in North Ireland. Recently, you had an article on this site where a Catholic priest was "fingering" those disloyal to the I.R.A. cause probably through the confessional. The good Cardinal Brady needs to become more proactive in taking on both the Brits and the I.R.A. It would appear that the Catholic Church in Ireland has been "frozen" by the sex abuse scandal.

• Liamkeyes | Apr 03, 2011, 11:21 AM EDT

  It's despicable. Words can't describe such a dartardly act. I call on women and men of good will everywhere to deplore it.

• eiriamach | Apr 03, 2011, 10:52 AM EDT

  Cathy Hayes, When I took a look at the recruitment section of PSNI's web site just now, I did not find there any job category called "policeman." Probably, there has not been such a description used by any European police force since before you were born, so please correct your headline for this article. If for some reason you need to make the point that the slain police officer was male, there are unambiguous ways to write that, like "Male police officer murdered...." (I wonder how so many posters can complain that IC is "liberal" when I see this kind of usage.)

• CitizenWhy | Apr 03, 2011, 10:49 AM EDT

  Thuggery. And these murderers claim to speak for the Irish people. What gives them any right to do so, especially with such evil actions?

• Rebelforce | Apr 03, 2011, 10:46 AM EDT

  These dopey "dissidents" murder Catholics, are against Catholics in the police service, are against having Sinn Fein in the government. What's the difference between these jerks and a British loyalist murder gang on the Shankill Road?

• SeamusMor | Apr 03, 2011, 10:16 AM EDT

  Owen Patterson said it best: the bombers "are in the grip of an obscene delusion." It does seem strange to for "dissident republicans" to target such a young officer. How could anyone just starting out with the PSNI become a threat to the lunatic fringe? It says no group has claimed responsibility. Although a car bombing is a signature tactic of the IRA type groups, claiming responsibility is also a feature. Is it not possible that Ronan Kerr may have been a threat to a drugs dealer or some other kind of criminal scum bag?

• dcdeirdre | Apr 03, 2011, 09:20 AM EDT

  Although I would consider myself a passivist at times like this I think the death penalty isn't such a bad idea after all. The cowardly pond scum who persist in doing this don't represent any Irish that I know, green or orange.

• antoman | Apr 03, 2011, 09:16 AM EDT

  Murdering fascist gangsters.Not only was this vile act committed in Omagh,scene of the most heinous act of mass murder in Ireland.But scores of innocent people taking part in a fun run could have been killed.The young mans mother received for Mothers Day the news that her son had been murdered.That a tiny minority of people in Oglaigh na hEireann should profess to be the voice of the majority in Ireland is sickening and a smack in the face to all the people of Ireland.I offer my condolences and prayers to Ronan Kerr and his family.

• celtickenny | Apr 03, 2011, 09:09 AM EDT

  The dissidents need to adhere to a peaceful solution, the days of murder are over and they destroy any message they think they are delivering. They've murdered a young man who believed he was making a positive difference in the lives of his fellow Northern Irish citizens.