Well, my figures for weapons held by the IRA are taken from Jane's Yearbook and British estimates -although in truth there are probably a lot of older semi-reliable weapons they could press into service if need be floating around out there.

And for the chap who was asking yes Sinn Fein has one TD in the south, polls were showing they might pick up 2 or 3 more if things went well for them. If I recall correctly Dail Eireann has something like 160 plus seats so they would still be a decidedly minority party. It's Ireland proportional representation system that would allow them to hold more power than might seem obvious at first sight from such figures.

Mr. Pooka with regards to Irish politics no-one understands it cos everyone time someone has an answer some other eejit changes the question. I really do not want to see the IRA back on a war footing, it would just inch along as a stalemate again - I do think the IRA should retain some arms however, that may be a controversial opinion at this point but one only has to remember hundreds of people been burnt out of their homes and field hospitals been errected by the Republic's govt. under Lynch to see why it might be neccessary, if not likeable, to defend yourself.

Marcus