UUP leader has “no regrets” about attending Kerr funeral

Ulster Unionist leader Tom Elliott has said he has no regrets about attending the funeral of Catholic police officer Constable Ronan Kerr.
Mr Elliott and UUP colleague Danny Kennedy – both Orange Order members – are facing disciplinary proceedings by the order for attending the funeral.
The Orange Order bans members from Catholic services and one south Belfast lodge complained about them.
However, Mr Elliott said they had shown leadership by attending.
Constable Kerr was killed by a car bomb outside his home in Omagh on 2 April.
Mr Elliott said going to the funeral was “right for the entire society of Northern Ireland and, maybe more importantly, right for the Kerr family.
The complaint against Mr Elliott and Mr Kennedy – from a lodge in the Sandy Row area – accused they of having “sold their principles for political expediency”.
Disciplinary hearings will now be heard, possibly as early as next month.
Mr Elliott said it was important to remember just one lodge had complained, but he said he found their actions surprising and said it was demoralising when he considered what the Kerr family was going through