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Editor's Viewpoint: Attack on Mary is an attack on us all

The pipe bomb attack on the community worker Mary Kelly in her north Belfast home this week has shocked people on all sides.

Mary has worked hard to foster good relations in the area, but she has been repaid for her efforts in the vilest possible manner. This, unfortunately, was not an isolated incident, and her home was attacked in January when a hammer was thrown through her front window.

It is clear that some people in north Belfast regard efforts to create good community relations as a threat rather than a welcome bonus.

The attack on Mary Kelly is not just a danger to this brave woman, but also an affront to our entire society.

This point was well put by Duncan Morrow, the chief executive of the Community Relations Council, who said "an attack on the home of community relations volunteers is an attack on everything positive and hopeful in recent years in Northern Ireland".

The harsh truth is that this kind of appalling incident makes an impact for a short period, and then the public's attention moves on to something else.

This is understandable, if not excusable, in a society that has witnessed so many acts of violence over such a long period.

Why, then, should we care about what has happened to Mary Kelly? The answer is both complex and simple. It is complex because of the many factors which lead people to commit such misguided and brutal acts of intimidation.

However in broad and simple terms, Mary Kelly symbolises the kind of good people who are needed to build peace in Northern Ireland from the grass roots up. Those who are doing so are individuals of integrity and vision, and that is why we should care deeply about what happens to Mary Kelly and to people like her.

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