Archbishop condemns killing of policeman

|PIC1|The Archbishop of Armagh, the Most Rev Alan Harper, has asked the Church of Ireland to set Sunday aside as a day to remember the soldiers killed and injured in Saturday’s shooting, as well as a policeman murdered on Monday night.

Constable Stephen Paul Carroll, 48, was shot at Lismore Manor, Craigavon, in County Armagh as he responded to a call from a woman for help. According to the Press Association, dissident republicans, the Continuity IRA, have claimed responsibility for the murder.

The policeman was killed just 48 hours after two soldiers from the 38 Engineer Regiment were shot dead outside the Massereene Barracks in County Antrim as they collected pizzas from delivery men at the gates of the base. The Real IRA, the dissident republican group behind the Omagh bombing, has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Archbishop Harper said the murderers were “evil people” who had committed “perverted acts”.

“For a second time within a space of 48 hours death has been brought to our streets, grief visited upon families and colleagues, and injury done both to individual persons and to all the people of Ireland, north and south,” he said.

“My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the police officer who was plucked from our midst as he and his colleagues went about their legitimate duty serving and protecting the people of Craigavon.

“I ask that throughout the Church of Ireland next Sunday we remember those who have died and pray for the bereaved and injured.”

The Archbishop appealed to anyone with information to go to the police and urged loyalists not to retaliate with violence.

“Such action would only play directly into the hands of the people responsible for what has happened. Violent acts do not serve the legitimate political aspirations of anyone on this island,” he said.

“I encourage all to support the legitimate forces of law and order and demonstrate that as a community we have now moved beyond the barren responses of a blighted past. May the Holy Spirit of God give us the vision and the strength to serve His purposes alone.”

In a joint statement, the Rt Rev Harold Miller, Church of Ireland Bishop of Down and Dromore, and the Most Rev John McAreavey, Roman Catholic Bishop of Dromore, described the policeman's murder as a "morally bankrupt act".

"Those who perpetrated this murder and other recent atrocities have nothing to offer the future of our society," they said. "Their ‘god’ is destruction. They are seeking to destroy the peace we are building – the normalising of cross-community policing, the cross-party working of the Assembly, and the desire to draw a line under thirty years of troubles. In fact, they will destroy only their own souls.

"Our community will not allow them to succeed. By the grace of God, we will be rallied together in a new and deeper way. This is the time for every section of our community to make the message clear and unmistakable. We are not going back. Our future is going to be one of respect, trust and working together for the good of all."

Following the killings of the two soldiers, the Archbishop has appealed for a redoubling of peace efforts in Northern Ireland.

Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde said the attacks were a reminder that “a small group of people determined to wreck what is a huge political process are becoming more dangerous”.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited the scene of the soldiers’ murders on Monday.

He said that “a small minority will never be allowed to undermine or destroy the political process”.