Madam, – The recent murder of a Catholic PSNI officer in Omagh was tragic. But it seems the injury of this murder inflicted on society was dampened through the response of the nationalist community and politicians: the overwhelming majority of the Catholic community rejected the ethos of violent justification behind the killing.
One would hope that the killing of a Protestant PSNI officer would espouse a broadly similar response from the nationalist community.
It is tragic and injurious for society when it condones such murder. A society that condones such violence is an aberration from all that is decent; it is ugly; it is a profanity.
As long as the nationalist community of Northern Ireland rejects republican violence there is nothing to be feared. – Yours, etc,