THE Taoiseach led condemnation of the killing of the prominent GAA official, Mr Sean Brown. Dail politicians united yesterday in sending condolences to his family and warning that the murder demonstrated the seriousness of the situation in Northern Ireland.
Mr Bruton described the killing as "apparently a callous sectarian attack".
"I wish to express my deep sympathy and the sympathy of the Government and, I believe, of all the people in the Stale to his family, to Bellaghy, the people of Derry and the GAA," he added.
Fianna Fail leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, condemned the "brutal murder" of Mr Brown, saying it seemed to be the latest in a recent series of vicious sectarian attacks, many unclaimed, that had caused severe injury or death to victims in both communities.
"All responsible leaders must try to halt this dangerous spiral and encourage a basic mutual respect for all legitimate differences in sporting interests and cultural identity, which is the hallmark of any genuinely pluralist society," Mr Ahern added.
The GAA was entitled to public respect which they do not always receive in Northern Ireland, even from the authorities", he said.
The leader of Democratic Left and Minister for Social Welfare, Mr De Rossa, said Mr Brown's killing was the third violent death in Northern Ireland within a week. There was a greater obligation on everyone to show responsibility and restraint to ensure further violent conflict was avoided.
Leader of the Progressive Democrats, Ms Mary Harney, condemned the murder as well as other recent sectarian attacks.
In the North, the Sinn Fein MP for Mid-Ulster, Mr Martin McGuinness, said Mr Brown's murder was "very sad".
He stressed it was a "very serious development" in the peace process.
He had driven past the scene of the crime yesterday.
"It is a very sad sectarian murder by a loyalist or pro-British death squad," he added.
He said loyalists would observe a policy of "no claim no blame" to try and distance themselves from the killing.
He appealed for community calm, as did Mr Joe Byrne, the SDLP representative for Bellaghy. "By upping the ante through an increase in sectarian tension, those responsible for Sean Brown's death are only furthering the divisions in our society and making agreement more difficult," said Mr Byrne.
Mr Ken Maginnis, the Ulster Unionist Party's security spokesman, condemned the killing and said fear on both sides of the community was leading to violence in which retaliation appeared to be excused.
The new Northern security minister, Mr Adam Ingram, said the murder was "particularly horrific, pointless and barbaric".
The Catholic Bishop of Derry, Dr Seamus Hegarty, said it was a vicious and Godless act".
Mr Harry Chivers, chairman of the Derry GAA Committee, said the killing was a "terrible tragedy". Mr Brown was a "moderate, mild mannered man" who "put his heart and soul into running the club".
Republican Sinn Fein, the Workers' Party, and the Irish Republican Socialist Party also condemned the murder.