Turkey bombing - Resilience can combat terrorists

THE death of Irish teenager Tara Whelan in the minibus bomb in Kusadasi, Turkey, is symptomatic of the indiscriminate mindlessness of terrorism in its total indifference as to its victims.

The Waterford girl, on a package tour with friends while looking forward to her Leaving Certificate results next month, died, along with four others, because of zealots pursuing a political cause.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has rightly condemned the bombing and said such terrorists had no place in society.

Despite the tragedy of Tara Whelan’s death it was fortunate that the toll was not higher, given that it is a very popular tourist area, with up to 5,500 Irish holiday-makers visiting annually.

The extremist Kurdish group suspected of being responsible for the atrocity, like fanatics the world over, are driven by a dogmatic intolerance which can be measured by the innocent lives it destroys.

One of their aims is to terrorise normal society into a climate of fear so that their abhorrent philosophy can prevail.

No civilised society can, or will, allow that to happen and such terrorist acts must be met by resilience.