Evil intent

THE feeling of revulsion hangs heavy in the air after the murder of a young Catholic policeman in Northern Ireland. The attack on Ronan Kerr, aged 25 and just weeks into his career, was a cowardly act intended to spread fear, panic and loathing through Northern Ireland and the Republic. Instead, it will only strengthen the resolve of those determined to destroy the cancer of violence which has long blighted life on both sides of the border.

This heinous crime also serves as a reminder that there remains a group of unpleasant and fanatical individuals who want to drag us back to the dark days of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, when murders and punishment beatings became commonplace.

Indeed, the location of Saturday’s attack, on the outskirts of Omagh in County Tyrone, underlines this point. The horror of 1998, when a Real IRA car bomb killed 29 people in the town, including a woman pregnant with twins, has not faded with time. Nothing good will ever come from such barbarity.

The criminals who carried out the latest attack are bent on disrupting the peace process. They will fail, however, because there is no appetite among the people of the province for a new era of violence. Northern Ireland has made huge strides since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. The progress has, at times, been slow, with another policeman and two British soldiers killed in spring 2009, but the public mood has shifted irrevocably.

This stability is reflected in the relative calm at Stormont, where the first full term of devolved power for 40 years has just come to an end. Successful elections next month, and the Queen’s visit to Dublin this summer, will send a further signal that the island is moving forward. Whatever the evil intent of terrorists, the progress of peace will not be derailed.