Officer's Ulster funeral to unite leaders in grief

DUBLIN (AP) — Political and religious leaders from across Ireland are expected to join thousands of mourners for the funeral of a 25-year-old Catholic officer slain by a dissident IRA bomb.

Wednesday's funeral Mass for Constable Ronan Kerr in the Northern Ireland village of Beragh is bringing together both sides of the community and breaking new ground in reconciliation.

Peter Robinson, the Protestant leader of Northern Ireland's government, is attending the first Catholic service of his life. Martin McGuinness, the Catholic deputy leader and a former Irish Republican Army commander, is attending his first funeral of a policeman.

IRA dissidents seek to intimidate members of Northern Ireland's Irish Catholic minority from joining the police. They last killed a policeman in 2009.