I happened to see "Newsnight" last night, where the interview took place. Ken Macginnis did actually talk about girls as young as 13 being drawn into prostitution.

The original idea of having the army in NI was to act as "untouchables", ie. that they would intervene dispassionately to prevent the violence, although this brought its own problems. You get loads of shit-scared squaddies with guns in a riot situation, sooner or later folks are going to get shot - soldiers are trained as soldiers, not as policemen. Best move I spose would be to get police over from the mainland (England/Scotland/Wales). Contrary to what the Loyalists would like to think, we (or everyone I know, anyway) mostly reckon the "paramilitary" gangs on both sides are a bunch of animals looking for a fight, so you should get a fairly even-handed response.

Incidentally, it's somewhat curious that the Catholic community are now asking for more police presence on the streets in their areas to protect them from the Protestant gangs. Make of that what you will.

Grab.