The "cowardly murderers" of the Quinn children in Ballymoney must not be allowed to stain the whole of society in Northern Ireland, Senator George Mitchell said yesterday.
Mr Mitchell, who chaired the Northern peace talks, said there could be a durable peace once the marching issue was resolved.
Speaking on ABC television in the US, he said the overwhelming majority of people in Northern Ireland were good people "and you cannot stain a society with the acts of a few cowardly murderers such as those who committed this latest crime".
He added that most people in the North had voted for peace and this should not be undermined by those opposed to the Belfast Agreement. The murders of the Quinn children have been widely condemned in the United States. Senator Edward Kennedy said in the Senate that the "brutal fire bombing was the act of cowards. They do not represent the vast majority of the people in Northern Ireland, Protestants and Catholics alike, who have voted for peace and end to division. Everyone outraged by the murder of these three young boys must redouble their efforts to support the peace process and to ensure that extremists bent on sabotaging the peace process do not prevail." He said "both sides deserve their share of the blame for the sectarian attacks that continue in Northern Ireland but this tragedy never had to happen and never should have happened. The Orange Order must recognise that its refusal to abide by the decision of the Parades Commission led to the murder of the Quinn boys."
Senator Chris Dodd said in the Senate the murders were "a cowardly act that is incomprehensible". They have "tested the resolve of Northern Ireland's political leaders to stay the course of peace. I hope they will remain resolute in support of peace."
Congressman Joe Kennedy condemning the murders said in Boston that "it's time to put a stop to these hateful parades wherever they seek to march without the consent of local residents. It's time to stop kowtowing to the beat of a bygone era and stop reliving the 300-year-old Battle of the Boyne."
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani of New York extending the sympathy of "all New Yorkers" to the parents and family of the three boys said that "in a year when the people of Northern Ireland voted overwhelmingly for peace, it is tragic that there remain some who still believe that violence is the answer".