Murders delaying demilitarisation - Ó Caoláin

THE MURDERS by dissident republicans of two British soldiers and a police officer “serve only to delay the ongoing process of demilitarisation”, according to Sinn Féin Dáil leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin.

In the first Dáil comment by a Sinn Féin TD, Mr Ó Caoláin said he unreservedly condemned the killings “by the so-called Real IRA and the so-called Continuity IRA ”.

He was speaking during the Dáil all-party motion condemning the murders of Sapper Mark Quinsey and Sapper Cengiz Azimkar in Antrim, and of Constable Stephen Carroll in Craigavon, and of the injury of a number of others in the attacks.

The motion also “affirms that the groups responsible for these atrocities have no mandate or support whatsoever from the Irish people” and it “reaffirms its unequivocal support for the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Garda Síochána in their efforts to apprehend the perpetrators of these evil crimes and to combat the groups who organised them”.

Mr Ó Caolain said “there may be some who, while not supporting the groups who carried out the killings, may baulk at the condemnation of the killings, in particular the killings of members of the British army”.

But the murders “were wrong because they were in breach of a peace process entered into in good faith by Irish republicans”.

The IRA “leadership and volunteers have long since declared that the war is over. The unrepresentative factions, who do not deserve the name republican, are engaged in a futile effort to reignite conflict and resume war.”

Opening the debate Taoiseach Brian Cowen said the Irish people were united and “our peace process and our democracy are unshakeable”.

The Garda Commissioner and Chief Constable of the PSNI meet today and the Taoiseach said the co-operation between the police forces on the island of Ireland “has never been closer”.

British Ambassador David Reddaway sat in the VIP gallery for the debate. Mr Cowen said “if anyone hopes to drag us back to a time of hatred and division they should hear the clear message given by the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister” which was “a message of hope and determination.

It was a message of support for our democratic institutions and for the forces of law and order. It was proof, if proof were needed, that we are not going back to the bad old days.”

Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said a majority of the population in the North “wishes to remain in union with Britain. That majority, and not the British army, comprises the British presence in Ireland. The people who make up this majority are not aliens. They are Irishmen and women who, like all of us on this island, are immigrants by descent or birth.”

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said “the media reports today that a large bomb has been prepared by the Real IRA for an attack in Britain underline the need for a strong security response. The murders are appalling but this business of preparing bombs for use in Britain just cannot be contemplated”.

Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said the attacks were “nothing short of acts of treason against the Irish nation”, and were “anti-national, anti-patriotic and anti-republican”.

He added that “there is nothing noble or patriotic about these groups”, who were “simply criminal gangs who wrap the national flag around themselves . . .”