US CONDOLENCES:CONDEMNATION OF the murder of two British soldiers in Antrim on Saturday has come from Irish American groups and the United States authorities.
Niall O'Dowd, founder and publisher of the Irish Voicenewspaper, said there would be no support for the Real IRA. "The reaction is one of disgust and anger at this horrific event. The Real IRA is trying to undermine a process that took three governments, all the parties in Ireland and Northern Ireland and 20 years to bring about."
“If shooting pizza delivery men and soldiers is their reaction to the process and they believe that anybody, especially Irish Americans, would be swayed to support them they are making a very big mistake.” Mr O’Dowd said Irish Americans were “100 per cent” behind the peace process.
The US state department’s spokesman, Robert A. Wood, sent condolences to the families of the soldiers. “The United States condemns the attack in Co Antrim, that resulted in two deaths and injuries to others,” he said.
“Our condolences go out to the families of the slain soldiers. We call on all parties in Northern Ireland to unequivocally reject such senseless acts of violence, whose intention is to destroy the peace that so many in Northern Ireland have worked so hard to achieve.”
The North’s First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness were due to fly to the US on Sunday, but delayed the trip after the attack. They will travel to San Francisco today and will visit Los Angeles and Washington, where they are to meet president Barack Obama.
