TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Ireland Unites To Bury Officer

ADVERTISEMENT

Los Angeles Times

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 14, 2009

BELFAST, Northern Ireland - If anything was symbolic of Northern Ireland as a more hopeful, more harmonious work-in-progress, it was the province's new police force.

With more Roman Catholics in its ranks than ever before, a force that was a Protestant bastion and viewed as a harsh instrument of British rule has embarked on a slow-but-steady transformation into one dedicated to protecting the entire community.

So it was that hundreds of mourners from across the political and religious divide filled a church on Friday in the town of Banbridge to pay their final respects to the first officer of the made-over force to be gunned down by a republican splinter group opposed to Northern Ireland's peace process.

Constable Stephen Carroll, 48, was slain Monday in an attack that came two days after the fatal shooting of two British soldiers, also by republican dissidents. The killings shocked Northern Ireland, galvanizing residents and politicians alike into rallying against a possible retreat to the armed conflict that claimed more than 3,500 lives.

The loss of Carroll, a Catholic and veteran officer, stood for more than just another tragic death in the line of duty, Canon Liam Stephenson told the mourners.

"It represents all of us," Stephenson said, referring to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

In a sign of how much has changed since the Good Friday agreement was signed in 1998, ending decades of armed conflict between Catholic republicans and Protestant loyalists, Stephenson's audience included representatives of Sinn Fein, the former political wing of the Irish Republican Army.

It was the first time that a Sinn Fein leader had attended the funeral of a police officer killed by republican dissidents, a dramatic shift from the days when the IRA routinely targeted the police.

Carroll's memorial service rang with the mantra repeated over and over in Northern Ireland the past few days: namely, that the violence of the past must remain there.

"So much has been gained since the signing of the Good Friday agreement," Stephenson said, looking down from the pulpit. "All fair-minded people do not wish to see this progress lost or compromised."

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT