The news that a man has been murdered in full view of witnesses on the streets of Woolwich makes me feel really sick. That the man killed was a member of HM Forces seems to make it worse. It certainly looks like an attack on the State in some form.

Those of us who grew up in Northern Ireland during our troubles here became somewhat immune or desensitised to the killing of anyone. However, after such a long period of relatively few such murders here in Northern Ireland, it now hits us hard. And it makes me remember all who were killed here.

But today our thoughts and prayers must be for the family circle of the victim, for those who have committed this violent crime, for HM Forces everywhere, and for the whole community of Woolwich, London, and the United Kingdom.