The chairman of the Northern Police Authority has given his full backing to the RUC Chief Constable. Sir Ronnie Flanagan has decided to bring in a senior English police officer to investigate yesterday's killing of Lurgan solicitor, Rosemary Nelson.
Speaking after meeting Sir Ronnie, the police authority chairman, Pat Armstrong, said he believed the RUC had nothing to fear. The Chief Constable of Kent, David Philips, has been appointed to oversee the investigation.
The Northern Secretary, Mo Mowlam, has those responsible for yesterday's killing will not bring down the Good Friday agreement. Speaking in Washington, where she will be for tomorrow's St Patrick's Day celebrations, Dr Mowlam said Ms Nelson's killers wanted to bring an end to the hard-won progress made by local politicians in the past year; she said they would not succeed.
The spokesman for the RUC said that the Chief Constable denounced the ruthless murder and promised to leave no stone unturned in the search for her killers. He said that claims by some Nationalists of security force collusion in the attack would detract from the "total culpability of the cowardly killers". A Loyalist group, the Red Hand Defenders, has admitted carrying out the attack.
The Taoiseach has said that the killing of people who stand for justice will not stop those seeking peace from going forward. Mr. Ahern was speaking to RTÉ in San Francisco before travelling to Washington to meet President Clinton.
The Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam described the murder as a vile act of barbarism not just against a woman but also against the legal profession. The former northern talks chairman Senator George Mitchell also condemned the killing and pleaded with politicians in the North to implement the Good Friday Agreement. He said that Rosemary Nelson's killing should act as an impetus to achieving real peace.
The Ulster Unionist Party's Security spokesman Ken Maginnis said that Mrs. Nelson's murder is a tragedy for her family and for Northern Ireland. However, he also accused Republicans of making political capital out of the killing.
A security presence remained in place in Lurgan overnight, following the killing. This followed disturbances last night during which youths threw petrol bombs at the RUC and the British Army. Unrest was also reported in West Belfast, and on the Garvaghy Road in Portadown.
