Constable Ronan Kerr was killed on 2 April 2011 when a
booby-trap car bomb exploded outside his home at Highfield Close, near
Killyclogher on the northern outskirts of
Omagh in County Tyrone, just before 4 pm. The device had been planted under his vehicle and detonated as he approached it. Responsibility for the attack was later claimed by a
dissident republican group stating that it was composed of former members of the
Provisional IRA. Kerr, who was 25 at the time of his death, began his training with the
Police Service of Northern Ireland at the Garnerville college in May 2010 and was assigned to F District that December. His first posting was with the neighbourhood policing team in
Enniskillen, before transferring to a response unit at the end of March 2011. He was also a member of the
Beragh Red Knights Gaelic Athletic Association club.
Funeral Kerr's funeral was held at 12 pm on 6 April 2011 at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in his home village of
Beragh. The service was attended by political representatives from
Northern Ireland and the
Republic of Ireland, senior officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland and
An Garda Síochána, and several church leaders. Members of Kerr's local Gaelic Athletic Association club stood alongside PSNI officers to form a
guard of honour. The GAA had previously prohibited membership by security force personnel, a rule that was removed after the establishment of the PSNI in 2001. Books of condolence were made available at a number of locations across Northern Ireland, and a reward was offered for information relevant to the investigation. ==Reaction==