Ronan Kerr was a

Police Service of Northern Ireland The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ga, Seirbhís Póilíneachta Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ') is the police force that serves Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) after it was reform ...

(PSNI) officer killed by a

booby-trap A booby trap is a device or setup that is intended to kill, harm or surprise a human or another animal. It is triggered by the presence or actions of the victim and sometimes has some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. The trap m ...

car bomb planted outside his home on 2 April 2011 at Highfield Close, just off the Gortin Road (the B48), near

Killyclogher Killyclogher () is a village on the outskirts of the town of Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is also a townland and an electoral ward of Omagh & Fermanagh District Council. According to the 2001 census, it had a population app ...

on the northern outskirts of Omagh in

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an administrative division for local government but retai ...

. Responsibility for the attack was later claimed by a

dissident republican Dissident republicans, renegade republicans, anti-Agreement republicans or anti-ceasefire republicans ( ga, poblachtach easaontach) are Irish republicans who do not support the current peace agreements in Northern Ireland. The agreements follow ...

group claiming to be made of former members of the

Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish re ...

Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

Kerr was

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

, a group which at the time constituted approximately 30% of PSNI officers (a proportion recruitment policies were trying to increase), and was 25 at the time of his death. He was a member of a

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

club, the

Beragh Red Knights Beragh Red Knigts ( ga, An Bearach na Craoibhe Rua) is a Gaelic Athletic Association club. The club is based in Beragh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. The club concentrates on Gaelic football, a Ladies Gaelic football club is also in ex ...

. The guard of honour at Kerr's funeral was formed of club members and PSNI officers, a funeral also attended by the leaders of Ireland's four main churches.Ronan Kerr's killers told: 'In God's name stop' – 6 April 2011
– BBC news

Reaction

His murder was condemned by almost all sections of

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

and society as well as bringing international condemnation. On 6 April, a peace rally was organised in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

by the

Irish Congress of Trade Unions The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (often abbreviated to just Congress or ICTU), formed in 1959 by the merger of the Irish Trades Union Congress (founded in 1894) and the Congress of Irish Unions (founded in 1945), is a national trade union centr ...

, which was reported to have been attended by up to 7000 persons. Similar events were held in Omagh,

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,823 a ...

, and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. BBC Ireland correspondent Mark Simpson commented, in relation to the unified response of the community, "A murder designed to divide people has actually brought them closer together." Graffiti praising the murder was daubed on walls in predominantly republican areas of

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

Investigation

On 26 July 2011, five men were arrested in connection with the investigation. They were later released. On 26 November 2012, investigating detectives announced the arrest of a 22-year-old man in

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

. On 27 November, a 39-year-old man in

was arrested and questioned. On 16 May 2017, officers from the PSNI's Serious Crime Branch arrested two men under the Terrorism Act in connection with the murder. A 27-year-old man was arrested in Omagh, and a 40-year-old man was produced into police custody from prison. In June 2018, a man from

Coalisland Coalisland () is a small town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, with a population of 5,682 in the 2011 Census. Four miles from Lough Neagh, it was formerly a centre for coal mining. History Origins In the late 17th century coal depos ...

, County Tyrone, was charged with three terrorism-related charges. These charges were connected to searches in Coalisland in the course of the murder investigation. The charges were dropped in June 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Ronan Terrorist incidents in the United Kingdom in 2011 2011 crimes in Ireland Car and truck bombings in Northern Ireland Deaths by person in Northern Ireland Terrorism deaths in Northern Ireland 2011 murders in the United Kingdom 2011 in Northern Ireland 21st century in County Tyrone Crime in County Tyrone April 2011 crimes Attacks by Republicans since the Good Friday Agreement 2010s murders in Northern Ireland