Northern Ireland united on Friday to salute the first policeman killed in the province for a decade, as a third man was arrested over his murder.
Hundreds of black-clad mourners attended the funeral of Constable Stephen Carroll, shot on Monday in the second deadly attack in 48 hours by republican paramilitaries.
The funeral came a day after a service for two British soldiers killed last weekend.
PHOTO: AP
The three killings triggered fears of a return to sectarian violence a decade after peace accords ended the so-called Troubles.
Inside St Therese Roman Catholic Church in the town of Banbridge, southwest of Belfast, Bishop John McAreavey summed up the mood across the province, telling mourners that they gathered “at a time of great suffering, loss and worry.”
To those who would support the “terrible” attacks that have rocked Northern Ireland in recent days, he said: “You are greatly mistaken: Your way is backward-looking; the people of Ireland and Britain have chosen a better way forward — the way of reconciliation and accommodation.”
“We are determined not to allow ourselves to be dragged back into the morass of hatred and violence,” he said.
Carroll was lured into a cul-de-sac and shot in the head in the nearby town of Craigavon, in a sniper attack claimed by the Continuity Irish Republican Army.
Detectives who are investigating Carroll’s death were granted a further five days on Thursday to question two men aged 37 and 17.
Both remain in custody.
On Friday evening, police arrested a third suspect, described only as a man in his 20s.
Led by a lone piper, the 48-year-old policeman’s widow Kate held hands with relatives as she followed the coffin, which was topped with a police flag, a cap, gloves and medals.
Among those attending Carroll’s funeral were Northern Ireland police chief Hugh Orde, Britain’s Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward and Irish Justice Minister Dermot Ahern, along with representatives from Northern Ireland’s main churches and political parties.
It was the first time that Sinn Fein has attended a police funeral.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in