It's very possibly true that a referendum on capital puncishment in England would bring it back - at least that's what people tend to assume. That was why it's so worth bringing to people's attention that in Ireland at least that is not true. The rest of the planet will catch up in time, I hope.

I can understand why someone can feel forced by some kind of logic to consent to having a death penalty. An awful necessity. But what I can't understand is how anyone can ever see it as something to rejoice in and feel relish in the thought of - and yet that's we've seen demonstrated even in this thread. And if the death penalty encourages that way of thinking, I think that's maybe the strongest reason to do without it.