Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)

I will be mindful of the clock. I join in the expressions of sympathy to the Kerr family at this dark and traumatic time for them. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends and colleagues of this young police officer.

Ronan was just 25 when he joined the new policing service in the North of Ireland last May. In a spirit of public service he joined the PSNI to both protect and serve the community and to define and create a better future in a peaceful and equal society.

Ronan represented a new generation of Irish youth. I call them the peace process generation, a generation eager for change, filled with belief and confidence and ready to take on the challenge, however great, to achieve that change, a generation determined to draw a line under the past with its conflict and injustices and to create a new Ireland.

The many public tributes to Ronan give us the measure of the man. A beloved son and brother, a respected member of his local community and a member of the GAA from the age of five and through his club, Beragh Red Knights, he made a significant contribution to Gaelic sports and culture. His death is a huge loss to his club, community and county of Tyrone.

Those individuals who orchestrated and carried out this act offer nothing - no direction, no hope and no regard for republican values, which they have sought to debase through Ronan's murder. They have betrayed the community. They set themselves above and against the will of the people of Ireland. No cause is served by their actions. There can be no shelter or succour given to the perpetrators of this act. There is no rationale or excuse - such as that of misguided loyalties - to prevent anything other than full co-operation with the PSNI and the Garda Síochána in their pursuit of those individuals.

The efforts of a small group of people to promote division and conflict will fail. They will not thwart our determination to bring about political change, they will not blunt the people's demand for a new Ireland and they will not subvert republicanism for their own narrow selfish ends because we will not allow them to do so. The process of peace-building will continue. The Sinn Féin position in respect of this killing and all other such actions is unequivocal: our condemnation is absolute. All attacks of this nature are wrong and cannot be justified. Sinn Féin supports the efforts of the police service in bringing those responsible before the courts.

The North has changed and continues to change. The new political dispensation, so painstakingly and courageously built over a long period, is supported by the majority of citizens across Ireland. A new era, with a new civic and accountable policing service, is a key component of this. Young Nationalists and republicans must continue to take their place in the PSNI. We, as politicians, have an obligation to ensure this remains possible. That makes it all the more urgent that the Government should address with the British authorities their unilateral decision to remove the 50-50 recruitment relating to the PSNI.

Our political direction can be only forward. There will be no return to the past. The war is over. People across Ireland, particularly those in County Tyrone, are very angry. Today, we condemn the murder of Constable Ronan Kerr and we unite in solidarity with his heartbroken family. However, we must do more than that. Rhetoric is not enough. Horror and revulsion, though understandable, are also not sufficient. The peace process, the process of power-sharing and the all-Ireland political institutions must be defended.

I am heartened by the Taoiseach's commitment to defend the peace process and to ensure the full implementation of the British-Irish Agreement and the St. Andrews Agreement. He must live up to that commitment. The Minister for Justice and Equality and everyone else must understand that it is the political process and the triumph of democracy which will see off these fringe and minority elements who have turned their face against the peace process. Irish republicans have charted a peaceful and a democratic path to Irish unity. They have been architects of the peace process and they will defend it against all comers.

Constable Ronan Kerr rest in peace. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

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