Responding to the brutal murder in Antrim

The murder of two soldiers in Antrim - the first in 12 years - is a shocking reminder that there are still some Republican dissidents who are determined to try to wreck the successful and peaceful existence that Northern Ireland has now achieved.

There can be no equivocation about such barbarity - and there must be unity among all politicians in condemning the murders. If Martin McGuinness thinks otherwise, he will simply give succour to those who are determined to wreck the peace that he and others worked so long to achieve. As the SDLP's leader Mark Durkan, said:

Those who committed it are steeped in the mindset and means of past violence. They need to understand this is not an attack on British army but the Irish people who have voted for and value above all else peaceful politics and democratic accommodation.

12 NOON UPDATE: I am pleased to see that Sinn Fein have now condemned the attack.