Funeral today for murdered police officer Ronan Kerr

Political leaders and police chiefs from both sides of the Border will be among mourners today at the funeral of Catholic police officer Ronan Kerr, who was murdered by dissident republicans.

Stormont First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness will be joined by Taoiseach Enda Kenny at a requiem for Pc Ronan Kerr.

Matt Baggott, Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, and Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan will also pay their respects at what is expected to be a huge funeral in the small Tyrone village of Beragh.

As the service takes place this afternoon, large crowds are expected to gather 70 miles away in Belfast city centre at a trade union-organised peace rally to protest at the weekend killing.

Pc Kerr, 25, died in Omagh on Saturday when a booby trap bomb detonated under his car.

Intent on thwarting progress toward making the police more representative of both main traditions in the North, dissidents have actively targeted Catholic officers.

But Pc Kerr’s heartbroken mother Nuala Kerr has appealed to fellow Catholics to stand up and be counted and not be put off joining the PSNI.

Independent charity Crimestoppers has offered a £50,000 (€57,000) reward for information that will help detectives catch the constable’s killers.

The presence of Mr Robinson and Mr McGuinness at the service is highly symbolic, for different reasons.

For the DUP leader, it will be the first Catholic church service he has attended, while the presence of Martin McGuinness at the funeral of a serving member of the security forces would have been unimaginable before mainstream republicanism made the historic decision to back the PSNI four years ago.

After announcing his decision to attend the funeral yesterday, Mr Robinson told a meeting of business leaders in Belfast that the murder served only to strengthen the resolution of politicians to make peace work.

“This was an utterly futile act designed to divide and destroy,” he said. “The killers have succeeded in taking the life of a brave police officer but in doing so they have strengthened the resolve of the rest of our society in our commitment never to go back to the division and conflict of the last generation.

“Ronan’s murder is a huge tragedy but far from it being a threat to the new era we have entered, it vindicates our decision to travel this road and its horror is a sharp reminder that all of us, in our own ways, must maintain our commitment and devote our energy to building the new Northern Ireland Ronan sought and served.

“There was a time when acts of violence and terror would have divided political opinion in Northern Ireland; today it unites it.”

People can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.