Sectarian Fears Rise In Northern Ireland After Prison Officer Ambush

Forensic officers search the scene on the M1 where prison officer David Black was shot as he drove near Lurgan, Co Armagh. Photograph: Cathal McNaughton/Reuters

Northern Ireland Prison Officer Ambush Prompts Fears Of Sectarian Shooting War -- The Guardian

Dissident republicans may have opened a new front in their armed campaign – if so there will be frantic efforts to persuade loyalists not to retaliate.

Since a booby-trap bomb exploded underneath the car belonging to the Catholic police recruit Ronan Kerr in April 2011 most of the violence from republican terror groups has been directed at their own communities.

Since Kerr's death there has been one murder over the border in County Donegal and more than a dozen shootings, with all of the victims young Catholic males who were the targets of republican anti-drug vigilante attacks.

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Update #1: NI murder condemned ahead of North-South council meeting -- Irish Times
Update #2: Murdered Northern Ireland prison officer was Orange Order member -- The Guardian
Update #3: NI prison officers - the threat from dissident republicans -- BBC

My Comment: What gives me hope that Northern Ireland's sectarian violence will not return is the universal condemnation from almost everyone in Northern Ireland against this murder. The key now is to arrest the perpetrators of this murder, and to bring them to justice.