The Killing of Kieran Doherty

May all the Gods rest Kieran Doherty. I never knew nor heard of the man while he was alive but, his family and friends will grieve with all the genuine heartache and sorrow that the sudden and horrific loss of a loved one brings. Thankfully I cannot begin to imagine the pain they must be enduring at this time and the pain that will stay with them for a long time to come but, I hope they find the strength somehow to bear it.

The organisation calling itself The Real IRA has tonight, (Thursday) admitted that it was responsible for the killing. It offered information to the media about Mr Doherty, which it claimed was true and which it believed justified the killing.

Enough bodies were disappeared or dumped on border roads and city streets in the past to make it clear that even if you then agreed with a strategy of executing certain people for certain alleged activities - plenty of mistakes were made. One mistake is one far too many. That’s not even beginning to take into account the terrible fact that in the very dirty war that went on here, MI5 and all the other British security services were wading knee deep in the blood of those they wanted out of the way and they had huge success in recruiting agents from within organisations to accuse and execute members of their own organisation. Nothing justifies the killing of Kieran Doherty. Those days are gone and not soon enough.

I don’t know who The Real IRA are, or what their ideology is and I sometimes get them confused with The 32 County Sovereignty Movement and yet another new group calling itself Oglaigh na h-Eireann. I am aware that all of these relatively new groupings have at some time or another said that their aim is to remove Britain from Northern Ireland by the use of armed struggle. The fact that something is said does not always make it so.

To have an ideology you must have all three elements that constitute an ideology. Without all three elements you cannot have an ideology:

(1) You have to know and understand the situation that you find yourself in at present.

(2) You have to know where you want to be and what achievements you want to attain in the future.

(3) You have to have a REALISTIC plan of action that will take you from the present to the future you desire.

It’s very clear that the third and most important element of having an ideology is missing from any public statements so far from any of these organisations and so we have no real way of knowing for sure if they actually have an ideology or not. Unless and until they produce one, it’s fair to assume they don’t have one. Without one it seems impossible for this or any other group to allege that it has a higher political purpose that justifies the use of violence.

Of course there will be an even bigger crowd of politicians and commentators tomorrow, rushing red-faced to get on television and radio to churn out yet more crocodile tears for a man they never knew nor heard of. For the vast majority of them, their only interest is publicity for themselves or a free kick at their opponents. Trying to make political capital out of someone else’s distress is sickening. It was true for all those years of the war and it's just as true today.

The family and friends of Kieran Docherty have asked the media to stay away from their home and not to contact them. Let’s hope they are afforded that.

My hope is that there are no more left like Kieran Doherty was and no more families left to pick up the pieces. The hope is that the people who carried this attack out will stop and think of all that has passed and all that was achieved. Maybe they will even stop and think of all that was NOT achieved and cannot be achieved now.

There are huge differences of opinion among republicans since the ending of the armed struggle and the beginning of the campaign for Stormont by New Sinn Fein. It’s perfectly healthy and in-keeping with being a good republican to debate and fiercely disagree – even fundamentally – on the direction New Sinn Fein have travelled. There are many who could never vote for a DUP/New SF ticket and all that that means but, the truth is that armed conflict will not improve on the situation and will only bring more misery and darkness to those utilising it and those who are victims of it.