PRIME MINISTER'S VISIT:BRITISH PRIME minister Gordon Brown has praised the bravery of soldiers who rushed to the aid of those shot in Saturday's dissident republican gun attack in Antrim.
Mr Brown visited Massereene army barracks in Antrim early yesterday and the scene where the two members of the 38th engineering regiment were shot dead. His visit was known of on Sunday but details were kept under a strict embargo by Downing Street.
He later visited Stormont and held private talks with party leaders and Northern secretary Shaun Woodward.
Mr Brown emerged from these meetings to proclaim his belief that the peace process and local parties’ commitment to it were “unshakeable”.
The prime minister arrived in Antrim after 8am yesterday. His car was driven past the floral tributes that have been left by members of the local community.
He met PSNI chief constable Sir Hugh Orde and British army officers, including Brig George Norton, the most senior army commander in Northern Ireland.
Mr Brown also met colleagues of the two soldiers who died and the two others injured in the Real IRA shooting. “I met very brave and courageous soldiers who had come to tend the dying and those people who were injured,” he said.
“I met one of the soldiers who himself had almost been caught in the incident, shot at. I saw people who were shocked by what happened to their friends but were absolutely resilient that they wanted to continue to serve the country and send out a message that they too wanted to see peace in Northern Ireland.”
Members of the regiment have now left Massereene barracks for Helmand province, Afghanistan, for a six-month tour of duty.
Mr Brown travelled to Stormont where he held talks with First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness as well as the leaders of the Ulster Unionists, the SDLP, Alliance and Progressive Unionist parties.
Emerging from the talks, Mr Brown said he was confident the political process was secure and denounced the dissidents responsible for the murders: “The Real IRA have no place in the politics of Northern Ireland. These are callous murderers. These are terrorists who showed no sympathy towards people who are dying. These are callous people who carried out executions outside these barracks.”
Public opinion was firmly against the killers, he said, restating his belief that politicians were united in determination to see the success of the political process.