Today a young man, a few months older than me and a new recruit to the police was killed by a car bomb. He lived in a town called Omagh in Northern Ireland. I’m sure many of you remember that Omagh was the scene of devastation once before. I remember that day as if it was yesterday.
He was most likely killed for his religion. This young man did not deserve to die. Why can't people see that for as long as they fight and kill each other and refuse to live in peace, Northern Ireland will never have a future.
And now Omagh is trending on twitter for all the wrong reasons. As soon as I walked in and saw the TV I could see my beautiful Ireland. Ireland looks different to England. I can’t explain it, but I know its look. And then I saw all the police tape. I’m shocked that something like this is still happening less than 18 miles from where I used to live and where my parents still do.
My initial reaction was shock. Shock that after it seems like Ireland was getting more peaceful that this happened. But then they always kick off coming up to an election. My dad’s a wise man. He always said ‘Don’t vote you only encourage them’. And that’s not that I don’t appreciate my right to vote, I do, and I vote in England.
When I first moved to England it took me months to adjust to the fact that police in England are unarmed. Growing up in Ireland I knew no different.
Omagh was a big part of my childhood and it took a long time for it to get back on its feet again after before. Sometimes we still get the bus and go shopping there. That poor man’s family. That poor innocent man. R.I.P. Ronan Kerr. Sadly you wanted a peaceful Ireland but all you’ve got now is a peaceful Heaven.
I still hold Ronan’s dream. That one day Ireland will have peace.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-12948992
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