Quote Originally Posted by Cuchulainn
Exactly how, in your twisted logic, did the IRA 'get their way'? Their goal was a united Ireland, we are far from that.
They were raised to a position of legitimate government. That's a damned big step, even if they've not achieved their goal yet.

As far as 'releasing them & letting them in government' you have truely no idea of the situation here and you knowledge, or lack there of, does not merit a comment.
Yet, you wrote the following tract.

POWs were released only AFTER the peace agreement was signed and theiy were POWs from BOTH, yes BOTH sides of the fence. No one here thinks the 'IRA are done for' simply because their end was not a result of desperation therefore the fatal words 'done for' do not apply. They have disbanded and Sinn Fein are as a legitimate party here as any other. They are the second biggest in Northern Ireland. As for you not knowing one person from Northern Ireland who thinks they want peace and have layed down their arms, is that because you don't KNOW anyone from Northern Ireland? Or is it because you only know people from the opposite end of the political spectrum that suits their own beliefs to demonise the process itself.
Your line; "They have disbanded and Sinn Fein are as a legitimate party here as any other." shows just how blind you are to the reality of the situation. As for people I know from N.I., well, that'd be half my family and all the people I met living there for some years.

Comparing Sinn Fein with Bin Laden is futile garbage and are doing your overtly one-sided views no credability whatsoever.
Ok, Sinn Fein aren't as spectacular as Bin Laden was, but the analogy stands.

The fact remains there is peace and talking worked. The biggest test came recently when the Loyalists basically turned Belfast into a no-go area where Catholics were burnt out, police shot at & car hijacked. They never moved.
And their heads shoul have been cracked open as well. I'm far from one-sided here, there's plenty of problems on the Loyalist side as well, and nobody's being done any favors by not cracking down on them either.

Yet again I meet another blind Englishman believing their forces were the beacon of light against the bloody evil Fenians of Ireland, and yet again I am not surprised this war lasted so long.
Yes, how terrible of us not to let the RoI take over a region of our nation which is probably much more loyal to the country than any other region.

Unless you know the truth and seen things from every side you have zero right to have your comments taken seriously. The IRA did a lot of terrible things, it's important to remember there were other parties with bloody hands too, one was your great and Loyal British Army, Irish history is soaked in the blood of it's victims.
You claim Sinn Fein is a legitimate party. Whatever flaws there might be with what I say, your comments are equally erratic.