"I wish this had never happen to you, Dad. I wish it could be someone else. I am sorry this had happened to you. Greatest Dad In The World. We love you." The words, in a child's scrawl, were written by seven-year-old Louie Johnston on a wreath for his father.
David Johnston, a reserve constable in the RUC, was 30 years old when he was shot by the Provisional IRA in Lurgan on June 16th, 1997, at point-blank range in the back of the head. He left a widow, Angie, and two sons, Louie and his three-year-old brother, Joshua.
His partner, Constable John Graham (36), was also shot through the head, leaving a widow, Rosemary, and three daughters aged between two and seven years.
They were community policemen, which meant they worked a lot with tenants' groups, schools and so on, and were regularly to be seen patrolling in the town centre.
Perhaps we need the pictures to remind us. Looking at them again this week, the photographs of Louie Johnston, weeping uncontrollably and clinging to his mother, would move a heart of stone. The murders of the two men brought to 300 the number of RUC officers killed during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
They were also two of the most brutally pointless murders, which is not intended to suggest there has ever been any justification for the others. But this was June 1997, a little over a month since Tony Blair had won a massive majority in the British general election and flown to Belfast to urge all the parties to climb aboard "the peace train".
The IRA had not yet called its second ceasefire, but it was becoming increasingly obvious this would happen within weeks. It was announced in late July 1997.
The RUC has confirmed that nobody has been convicted of any offence in connection with the murder of these two policemen - not even of manslaughter. There have been other cases where republican prisoners convicted of killing police officers have been released early under the terms of the Belfast Agreement.
Last month, Tony Blair came under intense pressure in the House of Commons to slow down this programme of early releases, at least until there is some movement on decommissioning.
A brave man, he told William Hague that any move in that direction would have seriously damaging consequences for the peace process. He agreed this was going through a very difficult time but added "an imperfect process and an imperfect peace are better than no peace at all."
The British Prime Minister's words provoked very little comment in this State, where we take it for granted that the release of paramilitary prisoners may be very painful for those families who have to watch the killers of their loved ones walk free, but is essential to the building of peace. Just so long as it happens in Northern Ireland, of course. Not for the first time one cannot but be struck by the fact that there seems to be one set of rules for those who live in a snug democracy "down here" and another, very different and harsher view of what is judged to be reasonable for them "up there".
I am not for a moment questioning the sincerity of the public reaction to the outcome of the trial of the four men convicted of the manslaughter of Det Garda Jerry McCabe. It was a cruel, cowardly crime and one can only be humbled by the dignity of his widow and family. Serious concerns have been raised by the trial and the change in the charges from murder to manslaughter. The problem of the intimidation of witnesses is one with which courts in Northern Ireland have been long familiar.
Equally, at this moment of crisis in the peace process, it is important to understand what anger and offence have been caused in the North by the Government's line on the McCabe conviction, particularly to unionists.
David Trimble is just one of the politicians who have spoken of the "deep sense of hurt" caused by "double standards at play here". Talking to people in both communities in recent days, I have found a rare unanimity on the issue.
It confirms what they have long suspected. This is that when people in this State voted overwhelmingly to endorse the Belfast Agreement, they never realised they might be asked to accept some unpalatable compromises in the course of its implementation.
Sitting down in an assembly with Sinn Fein, prisoner releases, decommissioning, these were the ugly bits which Northern politicians and the public must swallow as part of the medicine of the peace process. David Trimble has been endlessly criticised as stubborn and lacking in political courage when he has raised objections on these issues.
The unionist leader has been urged to make the great leap forward politically for the sake of future generations. Now it is becoming clear that, if we want peace, there is a price to be paid by the people of this State, and one which many people are already saying is too high.
The verdict in the McCabe case - and the public reaction to it - have thrown this contradiction into uncomfortably sharp focus. There have been anguished comments that the very democracy of this State could be undermined by the desire to appease the Provisional IRA on such issues as allowing Sinn Fein to take its seats on an executive prior to decommissioning.
But from the very start of the peace process it has been clear that the challenge of moving a deeply-divided society away from prevailing violence towards a stable democracy would mean all sides having to accept unpalatable compromises and a high degree of ambiguity.
Politicians in Northern Ireland have tried, often with great difficulty, to come to terms with this. In this State, where the whole pattern of moving away from guns to the ballot box is an established part of our history, the necessary pain of that process seems to have taken many of us by surprise.
I am all too aware that this column will anger many people who read it, not least colleagues whom I respect on this newspaper.
There is a genuine pride in the democratic institutions of this State and a sense of angry fear that these could be threatened by the search for peace. But the way to ensure this does not happen can only come with a secure and lasting democratic settlement in Northern Ireland.
That will involve all of us in accepting unpalatable compromises. We cannot expect the entire sacrifice to be borne by those who have already suffered so much in the North. We, too, will have to pay a price if we are to see an end to the awful sight of children crying behind the coffins of their fathers.