‘A slur upon our city’: Catholic bishop hits out at republican elements for using a graveyard to stage attacks and ‘exploiting’ youngsters while ‘not getting their own hands dirty’

Donal McKeown, Bishop of Derry, also hit out at the use of the City Cemetery to launch attacks on police following the parade on Easter Monday.

Police came under attack from petrol bombs and masonry as they moved in to make arrests following the controversial parade, which featured masked men in paramilitary attire attempting to march in formation.

The attacks were launched from the City Cemetery on the west bank of the Foyle.

Bishop McKeown, speaking to BBC Radio Foyle, said: “Parents will know that during so many years of the Troubles, so many of our young people ended up in the City Cemetery. It has been a sacred place.

“Even people who have no particular church faith will always go along to the cemetery.

“It is sacred ground, it is protected space, and I think to use that as a base from which to launch more violence – it doesn’t matter who it was against – I think was a very sad reflection on those who were behind it.”

The bishop suggested the violence had been “orchestrated”.

“Clearly it wasn’t spontaneous,” he said.

“You don’t come along with petrol bombs and petrol just on the off chance you might get a chance to throw them.

“This clearly was an orchestrated thing and I think it’s very disappointing.

“It casts some sort of a slur on the people of the area, who are a wonderful people. I’ve been there so often in Creggan.

“It casts a slur on the city in general and doesn’t offer hope for the future at a particularly difficult time for all of us.”

He suggested young people were being “exploited” by those ultimately responsible for the violence.

“I think young people can very easily allow themselves to be exploited by others who then end up not getting their hands dirty,” he said.

“That’s a really despicable way of working with our young people. Getting a criminal record, ending up in trouble, hurting themselves, injuring somebody else - that is not really a basis for their future.

“We want them to have employment, we want them to have hope, we want them to have dreams.

“This doesn’t really help teenagers to believe that they can be wonderful contributors to a healthy society, which is what we all want in this part of the world.”

By Tuesday evening, the PSNI had announced it had made a total of eight arrests following the parade – seven of which were made under terrorism legislation.

A number of searches were also carried out in the Creggan area of the city on Tuesday.

A PSNI spokesperson said: “A 44-year-old man was arrested under the Terrorism Act earlier today (19th April) and he remains in custody. A number of searches were also carried out at addresses in Creggan this afternoon.

“Six other men, also arrested under the Terrorism Act yesterday, remain in custody at this time.”

Bishop McKeown, meanwhile, called for dialogue to continue behind the scenes to prevent such trouble occurring again in the future.

“I think Derry has really always led the way in ensuring that conversations keep taking place,” he said.

“I condemn actions that are wrong and damaging to the city. I don’t go around condemning people. You have to be sure that everyone can be part of a shared future in the city.

“That means keeping channels open. This city is very good at people working in the background to try and keep everybody on board, to try and construct something that is positive for the future.

“All I can do is encourage those wonderful people who work quietly in the background to keep up the work.

“They are the ones who are the real architects of the future. They are the ones who will give us something to hope for.

“The area needs to have confidence in its wonderful cultural tradition, and not to look back with sadness or to look forward in anger.”