Targeting the Peace Process

LET THERE BE no mistake - Ronan Kerr was not the only target of the attack that tragically took the life of this young PSNI member in Omagh, County Tyrone, on April 2nd.
The target of the bombers was also the Peace Process and the republican strategy of Sinn Féin.
They will not succeed.
A wave of public anger throughout civic society, not just in Omagh but across Ireland, has followed the murder of Ronan Kerr.
Amongst those raising their voices were Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness, West Tyrone MP Pat Doherty and Seán Lynch, a former IRA activist who was a political prisoner in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh - republicans who have not been found wanting in the most recent phase of the struggle.
Those behind the attack on Ronan Kerr have no discernible political strategy. If they do have one, what is it? What is their political programme? Where is their community support? Where are their spokespersons? What is their alternative?
As Gerry Adams noted in his condemnation of the killing: “Those who murdered Ronan Kerr are not the IRA - the IRA has left the stage.”
And the PSNI is not the RUC - the RUC is gone.
Ronan Kerr and other young nationalists like him in the PSNI are part of a new beginning to policing and justice in the Six Counties as a result of the Peace Process and the Good Friday Agreement.
The Peace Process has transformed the political landscape on this island, particularly in the North. Sinn Féin was the engine for that.
There now exists a democratic and peaceful path to a united Ireland. A small minority remains opposed to that work and to Sinn Féin’s political strategy.
There is no place in the Ireland of 2011 for armed actions by tiny, unrepresentative groups and there is no support for it.
These factions want to turn back the clock.
The Peace Process and the Good Friday institutions must show resilience against attacks such as that on Ronan Kerr.
The best way to oppose their activities, to strengthen the Peace Process and defeat this futile violence is by voting Sinn Féin.
Sinn Féin will resolutely defend the gains of the Peace Process and continue to build towards a united Ireland.
Sinn Féin has a strategy. Sinn Feín has a political programme. Sinn Féin has wide and growing popular support throughout the island of Ireland.
An Phoblacht urges everyone - Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter - to stand up for the Peace Process and vote Sinn Féin on May 5th.