"The kind of arrangement that now exists could have been had decades ago."

Surely all sides hold some responsibility for that and not just the extremists on the Nationalist side? As far as the British govt goes then in the past they were content to let sleeping dogs lie. That is as long as Northern Ireland was quiet they turned a blind eye to the injusticies imposed by the devolved govt there against the minority population. It seems to me that it wasn't until unrest started brewing again in the Civil Rights period that the British govt started taking notice of said injustices - and I imagine that until then most British people didn't even really know about them! I think you are probably right in that had the Nationalist cause remained peaceful then they would have been viewed as the innocents on the defensive and we would maybe have got to where we are now a whole lot quicker. However surely it is also true that had the British govt imposed themselves on the Loyalist devolved govt a whole lot sooner then the extemists among the Republicans would have been fewer and they would have had less water in which to swim. Just my thoughts!