Irish bishops condemn Antrim barracks attack

At the opening session of the Spring General Meeting of the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference, Bishops issued the following statement on the attack at Massareene British Army barracks in Antrim on Saturday night. The Bishops' statement follows:

We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the murderous attack carried out at Massareene barracks on Saturday night, 7 March 2009. We welcome the spontaneous prayerful expressions of unity across the community which followed the attack. Our prayers and thoughts are with the families of the two Army personnel who were so brutally murdered. We commend those injured in the attack to the prayers of all.

This was a direct and heinous attack on the sanctity of human life and on efforts to build an agreed political way forward in Northern Ireland.

The people of Ireland have overwhelmingly rejected the use of violence as a means of achieving political ends. Those who propose any other way wreck our future and destroy hope. We call on all citizens to redouble their efforts to build a peaceful society which pursues justice and reconciliation through the patient dialogue of the political process.

We also appeal to everyone who has information, which might help to bring to justice those involved in carrying out this attack, to give that information to the police.

Source: Irish Catholic Media Office