Death does not have the last word

The brutal killing of Constable Ronan Kerr in Omagh has proved to be a watershed moment in the journey to lasting peace in Northern Ireland. In the enormous public response to the killing, people are saying a resounding ‘Yes’ to peace and a similarly resounding ‘No’ to violence as a means of political argument.

The road to peace in Northern Ireland has not been an easy one. From the paramilitary ceasefires in the mid 1990s and the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 it seemed that violence as a way of doing political business in Northern Ireland came to an end. In the years since then we have witnessed intense political wrangling, slow progress and inevitable frustration.

However, as this community goes to the polls to elect a new Stormont Assembly on 5 May there is a growing sense that, although the political systems and institutions still need modifications and refinements, they have real potential for the future.

The dissident republican group that planted the bomb under the young policeman’s car in Omagh had a very particular intention. They wanted to re-normalise violence as a way of doing politics in Northern Ireland and to drive a wedge between people.

This killing has had quite the opposite effect, proving to be a significant miscalculation on the part of dissident republicans: the sight of police officers and GAA members helping to carry Constable Kerr’s coffin; political foes visibly displaying unity at the funeral; a Minute of Silence at a GAA match.

These welcome developments, combined with unanimous voices of condemnation from all parts of the community, have created a united voice against violence like never before.

Thirty-five years of violence and a peculiarly bitter quality to politics have left their mark. Northern Ireland is a wounded society. However, something hopeful has come out of a desperate act. There is a growing consensus that a historic cycle has been broken here, a cycle in which violence has been used as a substitute for political argument.

People from churches, politics, sports, business, civic and community life are saying a collective ‘No’ to violence as never before. They are also beginning to say ‘Yes’ to something even greater than peace – a ‘Yes’ to reconciliation. That is why violence will not find fertile soil.

As a mark of the new solidarity being found in our community, Protestant and Roman Catholic church leaders in my own city of Derry / Londonderry came together to issue a joint Easter Message. It was a Christian statement of hope, and included these lines.

“The power of the Christian message at Easter is that death does not have the last word. Its power is finally broken by the death and resurrection of Christ. As Christian leaders we declare that something else has been broken. It is the historic cycle whereby political difference on this island has been addressed by violence. We are in a process of building peace with our neighbour and are in no doubt that a historic cycle is broken. Death will not have the last word.”

“The successful breaking of a historic cycle coupled with the commitment of all parts of this community to live in peace presents great hope for today and for future generations. We represent different religious traditions that agree on many matters and occasionally not on others.

"Our ability and commitment to speak as one about our strong and confident hope for the future is symbolic of the new future for our community.”