After 800 years, we have peace — and we won’t let them take it away

If and when the time comes, the people of this State will have the right to give or withhold their consent to a united Ireland, as much as the people of Northern Ireland, depending on the conditions. There is no blank cheque for unity

INURED to condemnations of similar actions in the past, it is unlikely that the organisations claiming responsibility for the murder of two British soldiers, a PSNI officer and the grave injury of a Polish pizza delivery man (for failing to know he could be viewed as a British collaborator) were much moved by the united public rejection of their actions. No doubt, they take satisfaction from the “success” of their armed propaganda, despite intense pressure from the security authorities both sides of the border.

Their objective is to send the message that the war is not over, to unsettle the Republican community by reminding former activists of previously shared beliefs, and to upset the institutions under the Good Friday Agreement. Peace in Ireland has been centuries in coming. The vast majority of people do not want any part of this island known again the world over for its political murders. We want to live together in peace, and voted decisively for that. Our heart goes out to the families of innocent victims, who did not deserve or provoke their fate.