'Murder will strengthen will to resist terror'

The brutal murder of David Caldwell will only strengthen the resolve of the community to resist the evils of terrorism, it was claimed today.

Mr Caldwell’s murder would not further any violent cause, the Rev Jim Gray said at the funeral of the 51-year-old civilian construction worker.

‘‘It will only harden a determination to resist the violent overthrow of society. There has been too much suffering in our country, too many families grieving,’’ he told mourners.

Mr Caldwell, a former Ulster Defence Regiment soldier, died when he picked up a booby trap device contained in a lunch box at a Territorial Army base in Derry on Thursday.

A private service was held today at the father of four’s family home at Eglinton.

The cortege then made its way to Gortnessy Presbyterian Church at Drumahoe, a few miles outside Derry.

Mr Gray called on the community to help catch those responsible, and appealed to loyalists to ensure that there was no retaliation.

This echoed a plea by Mr Caldwell’s grief-stricken partner Mavis McFaul shortly after his death, when she said he would not have wanted anyone else to suffer.

However, the Red Hand Defenders, a cover name for the Ulster Defence Association/Ulster Freedom Fighters, has issued a statement threatening a ‘‘military response’’ to the killing.

Mr Gray described Mr Caldwell as a decent man whose concern was for his immediate family and his elderly mother.

‘‘He was a quiet man, respected in the community, who was taken from his family in a violent way,’’ he said.

‘‘He had served the people of the North as a member of the UDR during dangerous times and had come through safely, only to be killed at a time when people are looking forward to greater peace.’’

Mr Caldwell’s murder was condemned by the Catholic Bishop of Derry, Dr Seamus Hegarty, who said it had sent shockwaves across the community.

‘‘This has sent reverberations all over the city. Everybody feels under attack and under siege as a result of this because it strikes nerves which are rather raw at the moment.’’

It was also condemned by Mayor of Derry Kathleen McCloskey, who described last Thursday’s attack as ‘‘a cowardly and despicable act of violence’’.

In response to the atrocity, Derry Trades Union Council has organised an anti-sectarian rally in the city tomorrow.

Security sources believe the bomb which killed Mr Caldwell was planted by the dissident Real IRA, which was responsible for killing 29 people, including unborn twins and their mother, at Omagh August 1998.

The terrorists were accused by police chiefs of deliberately selecting a soft target in the knowledge that the camp, which is used by TA medics was undergoing extensive renovation.

Four men and a women were arrested and questioned about the incident and later released without charge.

After the service, Mr Caldwell’s remains were being interred at Ballyowen Cemetery in Derry.