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Policeman's Funeral Unites Northern Ireland

Killing by IRA splinter group provokes defiant display in favor of peace

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 14, 2009 7:46 AM CDT

(Newser) – Northern Ireland's Catholics and Protestants united yesterday to mourn a policeman killed by an IRA splinter group, the New York Times reports. In what some mourners described as the most improbable gathering of old enemies in modern Irish history, IRA veterans stood side by side with loyalists and security chiefs from both sides of the border at the funeral of constable Stephen Carroll.

Mourners, including representatives of all the main political parties, spoke of their determination to not allow the province to be dragged back into the cycle of sectarian bloodshed. An attack on the police force—once despised by Catholics, but now a symbol of post-peace deal reconciliation—is “an attack on the whole population of Northern Ireland," a Catholic priest said in a strongly-worded sermon.

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The funeral of Police Service of Northern Ireland Constable Stephen Carroll makes its way to St Therese's Roman Catholic church in Banbridge, Northern Ireland, Friday, March, 13, 2009. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

Police Service of Northern Ireland Officers carry the coffin of their collegue Stephen Carroll from St Therese's Roman Catholic church, Banbridge, Northern Ireland, Friday, March, 13, 2009. Constable... (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson, front, and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness leave the home of Constable Stephen Paul Carroll, Tuesday March 10, 2009. (AP Photo/Niall Carson/PA)

Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland Hugh Orde, right, and Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy walk behind the coffin of Constable Stephen Carroll in Banbridge, Northern Ireland. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

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Mouners gather for the funeral service of police officer Stephen Carroll, who was killed by an IRA splinter group. (CNN Video)

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The people of Ireland have chosen a better way forward, the way of reconciliation and peace, and we are determined not to allow ourselves to be dragged back into the morass of violence. - Bishop John McAreavey

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Policeman's Funeral Unites Northern Ireland