Cardinal: Dissidents bring shame on quest for unity

Dissident republicans have brought shame on the legitimate ideal of securing a united Ireland, the country’s top Catholic cleric said today.

At the annual Mass commemorating the 1916 Easter Rising, Cardinal Sean Brady said the Irish people had rejected the misery, mayhem and futility of violence.

He also branded the brutal slaying of two British soldiers and a PSNI officer in March as unjustified, morally repugnant and an offence to the ideals of the Easter Proclamation.

Cardinal Brady said: “In my view, the only true inheritors of the executed leaders of the Easter Rising are those who are fully committed to the will of the Irish people and their definitive support for the ideals and institutions of the Good Friday Agreement.

“The tiny numbers of people who continue to use or threaten violence as a means of achieving a united Ireland bring shame on that legitimate and still noble ideal.”

Taoiseach Brian Cowen and President Mary McAleese were among those at the commemoration in Arbour Hill, Dublin.

The Cardinal said the country’s most significant achievement was crafting a final political settlement in the North.

He said the Irish people had turned their back on the Troubles and urged those tempted to plunge the country back into violence to respect the sovereign will of the people.

“I take this opportunity to appeal to anyone who may be tempted to resort to violence in the name of Irish freedom, especially those too young to remember the tragic waste of life, limb and economic opportunity that was ’The Troubles’,” Cardinal Brady said.

“I appeal to you to respect the sovereign will of the Irish people.

“Turn your back on those who betray the Irish people by killing or threatening those who serve the sovereign will of the Irish people through the institutions and principles of the Good Friday Agreement.

“I have no doubt that this is what those who died for Irish freedom in 1916 would ask you to do.”

He said the killings of sappers Patrick Azimkar and Mark Quinsey, followed two days later that of by Pc Stephen Carroll, were heartless.

“Like many inhuman acts of violence before them in the Troubles, they were unjustified, morally repugnant and an offence to the ideals of the Easter Proclamation,” Cardinal Brady said.

“Today we remember those who died for Ireland’s freedom in 1916. We also remember, with sorrow, all those who died, through violence, in the tragic history of this island.”

Cardinal Brady also said there was unfinished business in helping the poor, the aged, the homeless, sick and refugees.

“Successive administrations have tried to tackle these issues over the years,” he said.

“We must all accept our share of responsibility for the failure to do so.”