Irish leaders urge new efforts against violence on St. Patrick’s Day

DUBLIN, Ireland (CNS) In messages for St. Patrick’s Day, Catholic leaders in Ireland called on their fellow citizens to work for an end to the violence that has plagued both Northern Ireland and the neighbourhoods of Dublin. Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin said he could not "speak about the new outbreak of violence in Northern Ireland without also expressing my concern yet again about further episodes of gangland violence in and around Dublin."
"We are witnessing the incongruous situation in which one revenge-killing begets further revenge, and precisely those who think that violence is an answer end up being the most vulnerable to the next round," he added. "This absurd violence and disregard for human life has been going on for too long. It has to stop."
Three members of Northern Ireland’s security forces were killed in less than 48 hours during March 7-9 by dissidents who oppose British rule in the province. So far this year there have been eight gang-related murders in and around Dublin.
The president of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Sean Brady of Armagh, Northern Ireland, said, "If the awful and tragic events of last week teach us anything, it is that all of us must work unceasingly for peace here on our island. . .
"The perpetrators of violence are seeking to destroy the peace we are building," he added. "I would ask that all people support the politicians who are working so hard to move away from the dark days of our past, to building a better future of foundations of trust, justice and respect for all."
But Cardinal Brady also warned against seeing St. Patrick simply as "a symbol of Irish history and of Irish heritage … without any reference to his own Christian faith."
St. Patrick’s Day should be a celebration not only of Irish culture and identity, but of "the man who described himself as an ambassador for God and who prayed that it might never happen that he (Patrick) should lose the people which God had won for himself at the end of the earth," the cardinal added.

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