Following on from the weekend shooting of the two soldiers in Northern Ireland, comes another killing, by another group, claiming to be a splinter from the old IRA.
This time, it was a 48 year old police officer responding to a woman’s call for help who was shot dead.
There will probably be even more attempts to disrupt the peace, that has now become the accepted way of life by most people living in the province.
It is now even more essential that politicians, community leaders and the security forces demonstrate complete unity and stay calm, while sending the perpetrators of such crimes the strong message that they will crush any attempts to renew terror before it is allowed to take hold.